119 



PHEASANT. 



COMMON PHEASANT. RING-NECKED PHEASANT. 



PLATE CXXXVII. 



Colchicus, LINITEUS. LATHAM. 



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 underwood, under fallen or felled boughs 

 and branches of trees, in long grass, and in hedgerows. 



The eggs are begun to be laid in April and May, one after 

 another for four, five, or six weeks, and incubation lasts from twenty- 

 four to twenty- six days. They are from six to ten and even 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 for four and twenty hours on the brood after they are 

 hatched, which takes place in June or July, and they keep with 

 her till they begin to moult to the full plumage. They soon learn 

 to run about with her, and when half grown begin to roost on the 

 same tree. It would appear that two hens will sometimes lay in one 

 and the same nest, and also that that of the Partridge will occasionally 

 be made use of, even if it already contain eggs, the Pheasant ex- 

 pelling their proper owner, and hatching them with her own, and 

 bringing up the young. The eggs are subject to considerable 

 malformation. 



