PHEASANT 



COMMON PHEASANT. 



PLATE CXXXVII. 

 Phasianus colchicus 



LINN.EUS. 



THE nest, a very slight fabrication of a few leaves, is 

 made upon the ground, sometimes in the open fields, 

 but more commonly in woods and plantations, among under- 

 wood, under fallen or felled boughs and branches of trees, 

 in long grass, and in hedgerows : a few feathers sometimes 

 become detached from the bird, and are found among 

 the eggs. 



The eggs are begun to be laid in April and May ; in- 

 cubation lasts twenty-four days. The eggs usually are from 

 ten to fourteen in number, smooth, and of a light olive- 

 brown colour, minutely dotted all over. Some are greyish 

 white tinged with green. The hen sits on the chicks for 

 some time after they are hatched, and they keep with 

 her till they begin to moult to the full plumage. When 

 half grown they roost with her in the trees. It would 

 appear that two hens will sometimes lay in one and the 

 same nest, and also that that of the Partridge will occasion- 

 ally be made use of, even if it already contain eggs, the 

 Pheasant expelling their proper owner, and hatching them 

 with her own, and bringing up the young. 



