RING-NECKED PHEASANT. 195 



tangled brakes, and leave passages which are easily 

 distinguished by the practised eye of the poacher. 



During the winter months the pheasant goes regu- 

 larly to roost, and the abundance of a preserve may 

 easily be ascertained about twilight, by the noise 

 which the males make in flying up to their perch. 

 During summer, however, and when moulting, they do 

 not tree, but squat among the long grass and cover, of- 

 fering themselves in this way an easy prey to another 

 class of enemies, polecats, foxes, &c. When pheasants 

 are numerous, Mr Selby observes, " the males are in 

 general found associated during the winter, and sepa- 

 rate from the females ; and it is not until the end of 

 March that they allow the approach of the latter 

 without exhibiting signs of displeasure, or at least of 

 indifference. At the above mentioned time, the 

 male assumes an altered appearance ; the scarlet of 

 his cheeks, and around his eyes, acquires additional 

 depth of colour, and he walks with a more measured 

 step, with his wings let down, and with his tail car- 

 ried in a more erect position. Being polygamous, 

 he now takes possession of a certain beat, from whence 

 he drives every male intruder, and commences his 

 crowing, attended with a peculiar clapping of the 

 wings, which answers as the note of invitation to the 

 other sex, as well as of defiance to his own." 



During summer, the favourite food of the phea- 

 sants are tender shoots of the potato and other 

 plants, and insects with their larvae ; as the au- 

 tumn advances, the ripening grains of all kinds are 



