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plumage is, however, denied to the female, 

 though she is by no means uncomely in form 

 or colour. The natural home of the Pheasant 

 is in the woods, which he leaves at the close 

 of day, to perambulate the corn-fields and 

 pastures, accompanied by his females, in 

 search of food. When young, however, they 

 principally subsist on insects, and are ex- 

 ceedingly fond of ants' eggs. The female 

 constructs her nest, of leaves, in some retired 

 spot ; and lays from ten to twenty eggs ; 

 but in a state of captivity she seldom pro- 

 duces above ten. In the wild state she 

 hatches her brood with patience, vigilance, 

 and courage ; but when kept tame, she be- 

 comes so very remiss in her duty, that a 

 common hen is generally made her sub- 

 stitute. The males and females only asso- 

 ciate together in the first spring months. 

 When disturbed, they make a whirring noise, 

 like the Partridge, and, from being a large 

 mark and flying slowly, they are readily 

 brought down by the sportsman. There are 

 several varieties, produced by climate aud 

 domestication, among which are the follow- 

 ing: The Wltitc. Pheasant, marked with a 

 few small black spots on the neck, and rufous 

 ones on the shoulders ; the Pied Pheasant, 

 the tail feathers of which are black edged 

 with white, and the upper part of the body 

 reddish brown and white ; the Variegated 

 Pheasant, which is white and rufous ; and 

 the Ringed Pheasant, which has a white 

 collar. Foxes and Polecats destroy many 

 Pheasants ; and as these are commonly fe- 

 males engaged in incubation, the tendency 

 to diminution of the race from this cause is 

 increased : but the chief loss of the Pheasant- 

 breeder is caused by the mortality of the 

 young birds, about the time of changing their 

 nestling feathers, produced by a convulsive 

 attempt to gasp the air, or expel the worms, 

 (a peculiar species of Entozoon) that have 

 occasioned a disease known by the name of 

 " the gapes." In their wild state Pheasants 

 feed upon all kinds of grain and herbage, 

 like the rest of the gallinaceous tribes. 

 From their size, their beauty, and the de- 

 licacy of their flesh, they are every where 

 considered by the sportsman as excellent 

 game ; and there is, accordingly, no bird 

 upon which such pains have been taken in 

 its propagation in parks and preserves. 



Among the various pleasing and edifying 

 observations to be found in Mr. Waterton's 

 ' Essays,' there are some on the habits of 

 the Pheasant, and (intimately connected 

 with the subject) on that most exciting topic, 

 the game laws. The following are extracts. 

 " By the laws of England, the Pheasant is 

 considered game ; and the sportsman is under 

 the necessity of taking out a licence from 

 government, in order to qualify himself to 

 shoot it. When we consider the habits of 

 this bird, we are apt to doubt the propriety 

 of placing it under tha denomination offeree 

 naturd, and I am one of those who think it 

 would be a better plan to put it on the same 

 footing with the barn-door fowl, by making 

 it private property ; that is, by considering 

 it the property of the person in whose field 

 or wood it may be found. The Pheasant is 

 a more than half-retained bird. While the 



Hare and the Partridge wander in wildest 

 freedom through the land, heedless of the 

 fostering care of man, the bird in question 

 will come to us, at all hours of the day, to be 

 fed. It will even sometimes associate with 

 the poultry on the farm ; and, where it is 

 not disturbed, it will roost in trees close to 

 our habitations. Its produce with the barn- 

 door fowl is unproliflc, and seems to have 

 nothing to recommend it to our notice 011 

 the score of brilliancy of plumage, or of fine- 

 ness of shape. The Pheasant crows at all 

 seasons, on retiring to roost. It repeats the 

 call often during the night, and again at 

 early dawn; and frequently in the day-time, 

 on the appearance of an enemy, or at the 

 report of a gun, or during a thunder-storm. 

 I am of opinion that it does not pair. The 

 female lays from seven to eighteen eggs ; 

 but in general the nest contains about twelve. 

 " Notwithstanding the proximity of the 

 Pheasant to the nature of the barn-door fowl, 

 still it has that within it which baffles every 

 attempt on our part to render its domestica- 

 tion complete. ^Vhat I allude to is, a most 

 singular innate timidity, which never fails 

 to show itself on the sudden and abrupt ap- 

 pearance of an object. I spent some months 

 in trying to overcome this timorous pro- 

 pensity in the Pheasant, but I failed com- 

 pletely in the attempt. The young birds, 

 which had been hatched under a domestic 

 hen, soon became very tame, and would even 

 receive food from the hand, when it was 

 oifered cautiously to them. They would fly 

 up to the window, and would feed in com- 

 pany with the common poultry. But if any 

 body approached them unawares, off they 

 went to the nearest cover with surprising 

 velocity. They remained in it till all was 

 quiet, and then returned with their usual 

 confidence. Two of them lost their lives in 

 the water by the unexpected appearance of 

 a pointer, while the barn-door fowls seemed 

 scarcely to notice the presence of the in- 

 truder. The rest took finally to the woods 

 at the commencement of the breeding season. 

 This particular kind of timidity, which does 

 not appear in our domestic fowls, seems to 

 me to oppose the only, though at the same 

 time an insurmountable, bar to our final 

 triumph over the Pheasant. After attentive 

 observation, I can perceive nothing else in 

 the habits of the bird, to serve as a clue by 

 which we may be enabled to trace the cause 

 of failure in the many attempts which have 

 been made to invite it to breed in our yards, 

 and retire to rest with the barn-door fowl 

 and turkey. 



" Though a preserve of Pheasants is an 

 unpopiilar thing, still I am satisfied in my 

 own mind that the bird cannot exist in this 

 Country without one ; at the same time, I 

 am aware that a preserve may be overdone. 

 Thus, when Pheasants are reserved for a 

 day of slaughter, under the appellation of 

 a battu, the regular supply of the market is 

 endangered, the diversion has the appearance 

 of cruelty, and no good end seems to be 

 answered. It exposes the preservers of 

 Pheasants in general to the animadversions 

 I of an angry press, which are greedily read, 

 I and long remembered, by those whose situa- 



