PHEASANT REARING. 175 



confusion, and the smell in these houses is most 

 unpleasant. And many of these hens brought 

 from a distance will sit for a few days, long 

 enough to spoil the eggs, and then cease to sit, 

 and it is almost impossible to detect that they 

 are spoiling the eggs until it is too late. 



If we have fifty eggs or two thousand to 

 hatch, there is one plan we adopt. Each hen 

 requires a box with a lid, no bottom, and a 

 •sliding door at one end. This stands in a field 

 near the keeper's house. The door opens into 

 a coop made of laths, large enough for the hen 

 to feed in. We put a sod of turf in the box to 

 raise it a httle from the ground, and a nest of 

 very short hay on that. The damp from the 

 ground is most beneficial to the eggs. They 

 are then placed as the wild bird places hers. 

 The hen is brought over-night and put on 

 hen's eggs in the box. If she goes back of her 

 own accord after coming ofi* to feed next morn- 

 ing you may trust her that night with pheasant's 

 eggs. 



