THE POULTRY KIND. 



501 



CHAPTER XCI1. 



THE PHEASANT. 



IT would surprise a sportsman to be 



old, that the pheasant, which he finds wild 



n the woods, in the remotest parts of the 



kingdom, and in forests which can scarcely 



be said to have an owner, is a foreign bird, 



and was at first artificially propagated amongst 



us. They were brought into Europe from 



the banks of the Phasis, a river of Colchis, 



in Asia Minor; and from whence they still 



retain their name. 



Next to the peacock, they are the most 

 beautiful of birds, as well lor the vivid co- 

 lour of their plumes, as for their happy mix- 

 tures and variety. It is far beyond the pow- 

 er of the pencil to draw any thing so glossy, 

 so bright, or points so finely blended into 

 each other. We are told that when Croesus, 

 king of Lydia, was seated on his throne, 

 adorned with royal magnificence, and all the 

 barbarous pomp of eastern splendour, he ask- 

 ed Solon if he had ever beheld any thing so 

 fine? The Greek philosopher, no way moved 

 by the objects before him, or taking a pride 

 in his native simplicity, replied, that after ha- 

 ving seen the beautiful plumage of the phea- 

 sant, he could be astonished at no other finery. 

 In fact, nothing can satisfy the eye with a 

 greater variety and richness of ornament than 

 this beautiful creature. The iris of the eye 

 is yellow ; and the eyes themselves are sur- 

 rounded with a scarlet colour, sprinkled with 

 small specks of black. On the forepart of 

 the head there are blackish feathers mixed 

 with a shining purple. The top of the head 

 and the upper part of the neck are tinged 

 with a darkish green, that shines like silk. 

 In .some, the top of the head is of a shining 

 blue, and the head itself, as well as the up- 

 per part of the neck, appears sometimes blue 

 and sometimes green, as it is differently pla- 

 ced to the eye of the spectator. The fea- 

 thers of the breast, the shoulders, the mid- 

 dle of the back, and the sides under the wings, 

 have a blackish ground, with edges tinged 



of an exquisite colour, which appears some- 

 times black and sometimes purple, according 

 to the different lights it is placed in; under 

 the purple there is a transverse streak of gold 

 colour. The tail from the middle feathers 

 to the root is about eighteen inches long; 

 the legs, the feet, and the toes, are of the co- 

 lour of horn. There are black spurs on the 

 legs, shorter than those of a cock ; there is 

 a membrane that connects two of the toes to- 

 gether; and the male is much more beauti- 

 ful than the female. 



This bird, though so beautiful to the eye, 

 is not less delicate when served up to the 

 table. Its flesh is considered as the greatest 

 dainty; and when the old physicians spoke 

 of the wholesoineness of any viands, they 

 made their comparison with the flesh of the 

 pheasant. However, notwithstanding all these 

 perfections to tempt the curiosity or the pa- 

 late, the pheasant has multiplied in its wild 

 state; and, as if disdaining the protection of 

 man, has left him to take shelter in the thick- 

 est woods and the remotest forests. All others 

 of the domestic kind, the cock, the turkey, 

 or the pintada, when once reclaimed, have 

 still continued in their domestic state, and 

 persevered in the habits and appetites of wil- 

 ling slavery. But the pheasant, though ta- 

 ken from its native warm retreats, where the 

 woods supply variety of food, and the warm 

 sun suits its tender constitution, has still con- 

 tinued its attachment to native freedom ; and 

 now wild among us, makes the most envied 

 ornament of our parks and forests, where he 

 feeds upon acorns and berries, and the scan- 

 ty produce of our chilling climate. 



This spirit of independence seems to at- 

 tend the pheasant even in captivity. In the 

 woods, the hen pheasant lays from eighteen 

 to twenty eggs in a season; but in a domes- 

 tic state she seldom lays above ten. In the 

 same manner, when wild she hatches and 

 leads up her brood with patience, vigilance, 



4D* 



