n. PHEASANT REARING (PART /) 37 



pen of some 12 ft. square, with its sodden trampled 

 grass, are never so good as when they are laid by 

 birds that have a proper space to live in.* 



ON OBTAINING EGGS FROM YOUR OWN AVIARY, IN ORDER 

 TO RAISE OR MAINTAIN A GOOD STOCK OF PHEASANTS. 



Though a sitting of eggs from penned pheasants 

 may not hatch quite such a large brood as one from 

 eggs gathered in the open, they have, however, great 

 advantages over eggs bought from dealers, and are in 

 one respect superior even to eggs taken from the nest 

 of the wild birds, for the former are not liable to be 

 frosted, as they are laid to a great extent under shelter 

 inside the pens. (A severe frost in the spring may 

 destroy half the eggs of the birds that lay in the 

 fields.) 



* In some of our southern counties such as Buckinghamshire, 

 Berkshire, and Hertfordshire the chalk soil is very suitable for 

 keeping pheasants. In parts of these counties many farmers, and 

 cottagers too, have small, ill-constructed aviaries, capable of producing 

 a few hundred eggs apiece. If one of these men obtains an order for 

 a larger number of eggs than he can personally supply as often 

 occurs he hurries round the country in a cart and bargains with the 

 other egg-sellers in his district for their eggs good, bad, or indifferent 

 as they may chance to be. He then packs the collection off to his 

 customer as one consignment. If you are obliged to buy eggs, pur- 

 chase them from well-known men, such as Mr. Hayes, of Elveden, 

 Suffolk (the most successful game rearer of our times) ; Mr. Kobb, 

 of Liphook, Hampshire ; or R. L. Price, Esq., of Ehiwlas, Bala, all of 

 whom keep their breeding birds on a wide stretch of natural ground. 



