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a "wholly enclosed preserve or entire island" owned or leased by the per- 

 son for whose benefit they were taken and provided also that that person 

 had a breeder's license. In any event, however, in any state it would be 

 wise first to obtain the consent of the authorities before resorting to such 

 a practice. 



Warden J. L. DeHart writes: "only ringneck [Chinese?] 

 pheasants have ever been liberated in Montana, and these in a limited terri- 

 tory on the Marcus Daly ranch in the Bitter Root valley. There they have 

 thrived and exist in considerable quantities at the present time. No 

 other species, to my knowledge, has ever been liberated in this state." 



RINGNECK STATES OF THE EAST. While it is the pure Chinese 

 'that is under discussion at the moment, it seems proper to call attention to 

 the fact that the ringneck is the only species of pheasant found in the wild 

 in the East. Massachusetts and New York are the great pheasant states 

 of that section, and these birds are found to some extent in practically all 

 the eastern states north of the Carolinas. The few attempts that have 

 been made to introduce ringnecks in the far South have apparently proved 

 unsuccessful, though an interesting experiment along this line is now 

 being carried on by Mr. William duPont on a large preserve in southern 

 Georgia. Writing of this some months since, Mr. duPont had this to say : 

 "The ringneck pheasants turned out on my preserve in south- 

 ern Georgia have done well. They have not been there, however, 

 long enough for us to determine definitely whether they will breed 

 in a satisfactory manner in the wild state. 



"The only losses that the writer knows of is one that was 

 accidentally shot and some eight or ten that wandered off to adja- 

 cent properties. Two of these were shot. All of the birds killed 

 were in the very pink of condition, showing that their new home in 

 the South agreed with them well. This loss is comparatively small 

 out of about two hundred and twenty-five birds turned out." 



PHEASANTS IN THE MIDDLE WEST. It is difficult to obtain 

 definite information as to the status of the pheasant in this section of the 

 country. The ringneck undoubtedly occurs in the wild in many of the 

 states it comprises but in none, I believe, to the extent it is found in cer- 

 tain of the far-eastern and far-western commonwealths. Ohio, Iowa, 

 Oklahoma, Kansas and Kentucky are all states that have stocked ring- 

 necks on a considerable scale in recent years. The largest commercial 

 breeder of pheasants in the country is in Illinois, and there are successful 

 commercial pheasantries in Michigan and Indiana. 



In the chapter that follows, consideration will be given pheasants other 

 than the ringneck and Chinese, which are bred in this country. 



