in. PHEASANT REARING (PART //) 51 



If you are lucky enough to own an extensive 

 shooting and to require a large collection of eggs to 

 stock it, the best plan by far is to inclose in circular 

 form a piece of dry light land in a clearing in a wood 

 within easy access of a keeper's house. The aviary 

 thus formed need have no divisions to separate the 

 birds, and may contain rough grass, bushes, and short 

 undergrowth, with small open plots, 5 yards square, 

 cut here and there, on which to throw the food. A 

 few stunted evergreen trees, transplanted if necessary, 

 or fir-tree tops fixed upright in the form of a little 

 clump in the centre of the ground, will be very useful 

 for shade and roosting. 



The upright 12 ft. 6 in. posts, each 6 in. thick, that 

 support the encircling wire netting, can in this case 

 be 8 ft. 6 in. out of the ground and sunk 4 ft. below the 

 surface, and may stand 10ft. apart. From post to 

 post, stapled down on their tops, secure a ^-in. twisted 

 stretching wire, to lace the upper netting to that sur-. 

 rounding the aviary. Vermin-proof wire netting and 

 a sheltering fence of fir boughs, as described in the 

 construction of pens, will be required all round the 

 lower half of the posts. 



Plenty of opening in the wood towards the south and 

 west to admit the sunlight, and shelter from the north 

 and east in the form of trees, is essential to success. 



A large circular aviary, of 80 to 90 yards in 

 diameter, will accommodate sixty hens and twelve cocks ; 

 and, as the latter have room to avoid one another, 



E 2 



