THE PHEASANT. 369 



an easy prey to the cat, the fox, and the stoat. A poacher armed 

 with a gun finds a cloudy night fully as good for slaughter as one 

 in which the moon shines ; and if larch trees grow in the wood, to 

 these he resorts, knowing, by experience, that the pheasant prefers 

 this kind of tree to any other. The larch suits pheasants admirably, 

 on account of its branches growing nearly at right angles from the 

 stem. This renders the sitting position of the birds very easy. I 

 consider the smoking of pheasants, while they are roosting in the 

 tree, as a mere idle story. I myself ought to be a pretty good hand 

 at poaching ; still, I am obliged to confess that I have never been 

 successful, in one single instance, in the many attempts I have made 

 to bring down the pheasant from his roost by the application of a 

 smoking apparatus. Indeed, when we reflect that the mouth of the 

 bird is always shut during sleep, and that both it and the nostrils 

 are buried in the dorsal feathers, we are at a loss to conceive how 

 the smoke can enter them, and cause the bird to fall in stupefaction. 

 If smoking were a successful method, depend upon it the poachers 

 would never be such noodles as to use a gun ; the report of which 

 is sure to bring an attentive keeper to the scene of their night's 

 diversion. 



To the illegal possession of the pheasant alone may be traced the 

 cause of all the sanguinary nocturnal conflicts between the poachers 

 and those who are appointed to watch for its safety. The poacher 

 is well aware that he cannot procure pheasants without the aid of a 

 gun ; and he knows, at the same time, that the report of that gun 

 will betray him, and bring up the watchers, against whom he would 

 have no chance, single-handed. Wherefore, in order that he may 

 come off victorious, he musters an overwhelming force of tinkers, 

 cobblers, masons, smiths, and labourers, armed with bludgeons, and 

 perhaps here and there a rusty gun. Taking the precaution to get 

 well primed with beer, off they go, fully bent on having everything 

 their own way. The pheasants fall ; the watchers come up ; oaths 

 and curses are poured out, and a desperate fray commences. Here 

 are furnished work important for the nearest magistrate, profit to his 

 clerk, expense to the county, and practice for Mr Ketch. Let it be 

 also observed, that the unlawful capture of the hare and the partridge 

 (which are really fera mitura) does not produce similar work of 



2 A 



