PHEASANT. 131 



PHEASANT. 



COMMON PHEASANT. RING-NECKED PHEASANT. 



PLATE CXXXVII. 

 Phasianus Colrhiais, LINN/EUS. LATHAM. 



ri 1HE 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: a 

 few feathers sometimes become detached from the bird, 

 and are found among the eggs. She has been known 

 to remove them, when disturbed, and to form a new 

 nest. 



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

 one after another, for four, five, or six weeks, and in- 

 cubation 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 



