Book VII. 



THE PHEASANT. 



1051 



as already described, 



731 





tect them from cats. The elevation of pigeon-houses (^Jig. 731.) 

 are of endless variety. 



6775. The breeding holes constitute the fixtures of the pigeon- 

 house ; its utensils are the hopper and bottle already described, 

 (6770.) a barrel or box for food, a step-ladder to reach the nests, 

 and some other articles not peculiar to this department of rural 

 economy. The pigeon-trap for enticing and entrapping the 

 pigeons of others, we do not describe. 



6776. Pigeons in new lodgings are apt sometimes to forsake their 

 habitations. Many nostrums have been recommended to prevent 

 them from doing so ; but if squabs be selected, cleanliness and 

 security attended to, and a salt cot placed in or near the house, 

 there will be little danger of this taking place. Fumigations 

 with highly odoriferous drugs or even assafoetida is also said to 

 attract pigeons to a neglected dovecote, or attach them to a new 

 one. 



6777. Diseases of pigeons. Fancy pigeons, being many of 



them monstrous productions, are very subject to diseases. Gir- 



ton enumerates upwards of a dozen with their cures, including the corruption of the 

 egg in the uterus from over high feeding ; a gorged crop from voracious feeding ; 

 insects from filthiness in the pigeon house, and the canker from cocks fighting with each 

 other. Little can be done in the way of curing any of these diseases otherwise than by 

 recurrence to the proper regimen ; if this does not speedily take effect it is better to put 

 the bird horsde peine both for humanity's sake and to prevent infection. Fortunately, the 

 common pigeon reared for the table is little liable to diseases. 



6778. Laws respecting pigeons. B)' the 1st of James, c. xxvii., shooting, or destroying pigeons by other 

 means, on the evidence of two witnesses, is punishable by a fine of 20s. for every bird killed or taken, and 

 by the 2d of Geo. III. c. xxix. the same offence may be proved by one witness, and the fine is 20s. to 

 the prosecutor. Any lord of the manor or freeholder, may build a pigeon house upon his own land, but a 

 tenant cannot do it without the lord's licence. Shooting or killing within a certain distance of the pigeon 

 house, renders the person liable to pay a forfeiture. 



6779. The common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus, L.), is a native of the old continent, 

 but not of America, and has long been naturalised in the warmer and most woody 

 counties of England. It is very common in France, and before the Revolution used 

 to be a great nuisance to the farmers, even to the gates of Paris. The pheasant runs 

 fast, but flies low and heavily ; it crows not unlike the common cock, being of the same 

 genus, and is supposed to live six or eight years. Pheasants are both granivorous and 

 carnivorous; they feed upon all sorts of insects and vermin like the peacock, and are 

 said to be greedy of toads, when not too large to swallow ; whereas, according to report, 

 they will not touch the frog, of which ducks are so fond. They are prized in park scenery 

 for their beautiful plumage and showy figure, and as game for the delicacy of their flesh, 

 which is of a higli flavor and alkalescent quality. It is in season in autumn, and most 

 esteemed when under a year old, and very fat. Every gentleman who has a well- 

 wooded, well enclosed park, and in whose woods are abundance of such evergreens as 

 the spruce fir, holly, box, broom, &c., may stock it with pheasants ; and he may pre- 

 serve his stock if he will continue to supply them with abundance of food, and deter 

 thieves, polecats, &c. The more common the pheasant becomes, the less will it be sub- 

 jected to the attacks of those enemies. 



6780. Varieties. Besides that which maybe considered common or wild in this country, and which 

 is generally of a brown color, there is the gold and si/ver, natives of China, and very hardy in this coun- 

 try, and good breeders. The ring-necks, natives of Tartary, bred in China, very scarce; their plumage 

 very beautiful. The white and pied ; both sorts will intermij^ readily with our common breed, as will the 

 Bohemia, one of the most beautiful of its kind, and equally scarce. The golden variety is generally of 

 the highest price, and the common most hardy, and of the largest size. 



6781. Breeding. In a wild state the hen-pheasant lays from eighteen to twenty eggs 

 in a season, but seldom more than ten in a state of confinement. As this bird has not 

 hitherto been domesticated, and as the flesh of those brought up in the house is much 

 inferior to that of the wild pheasant, they are chiefly bred for show, for replenishing a 

 park, or for turning out in well enclosed recluse scenes, which they will not readily 

 leave if well fed, and not much disturbed. Hence every proprietor may naturalize them 

 at least on a part of his grounds, say, for example, a wood with glades of pasture en- 

 closed by a close paling or high wall. The natural nest of the pheasant is made on the 

 ground, and composed of dry grass and leaves, which being provided for her in con- 

 finement, she will always arrange properly. They will breed freely with the com- 

 mon fowl, but as neither flesh nor form are improved by the cross, this is seldom 

 resorted to. 



6782. \n stocking a pheasantry,ihc general models to procure eggs from some establishment of this 

 sort or otherwise, and the following are the directions of Castang, as given in Mowbray's Treatise on Poul- 

 try. Eggs being provided, put them under a hen that has kept the nest three or four days; and if you 



