45 



Case 222. 



COMMON PHEASANT {Phasianus colchicus). 



This well-known resident is generally distributed throughout the 

 British Isles. It frequents thick covert-woods with plenty of under- 

 growth, in the immediate neighbourhood of cultivated land, where in 

 the morning and evening the birds can come out to feed. The chief 

 food consists of grain, seeds, berries and young shoots, varied with 

 insects and grubs, wireworms being a favourite morsel. The nest is a 

 mere hollow in the ground, roughly lined with dead leaves and well 

 concealed. The eggs (see British Bird Egg Cabinet, drawer 18) vary 

 in number from eight to twelve, but a score or more are sometimes found 

 in one nest, probably the produce of more than one female. 



There is little doubt that if the Pheasant were not artificially reared 

 and annually turned down in this country it would soon cease to exist, 

 for in hard winters especially, the birds left for stock are largely 

 dependent on artificial feeding. 



COMMON PARTRIDGE {Perdix cinerea). 



A generally distributed resident, being especially abundant in the 

 south-eastern counties of England. The food consists of green leaves, 

 seeds, grain and many species of insects and snails. The well- 

 constructed nest consists of a hollow in the ground, lined with leaves, 

 etc. From twelve to twenty eggs are laid towards the end of April or 

 the beginning of May (see British Bird Egg Cabinet, drawer 18). 

 Incubation lasts from twenty-one to twenty-three days, and the young 

 are carefully tended by both parents. 



WOODCOCK {Scolopax rusticula). 



Though generally regarded as a migrant, which arrives in October 

 and returns northward in March, many specimens of this species remain 

 to breed. It is generally distributed, frequenting wooded districts. 

 The Woodcock provides a good example of protective colouration in 

 which the colour of the plumage is aided by the crouching habit of the 

 bird, so that it is almost invisible when among the dry autumn leaves 

 and brushwood which it frequents. This is well illustrated in the 

 exhibited specimen in the case. The food consists mainly of worms, of 

 which enormous numbers are eaten, the bill being specially adapted for 

 burrowing after them in the soil. Any rounded depression in the 

 ground, in some sheltered spot, serves as a nest, merely lined with dry 

 leaves. Four eggs are laid (see British Bird Egg Cabinet, drawer 21), 

 of a creamy buff, blotched and spotted with grey and reddish-brown. 

 The Woodcock has been observed carrying its young when on the 

 wing — the nestling being held with the aid of the legs and bill. 



