120 LETTERS TO YOUNG SHOOTERS LETTER 



require no water, as such food can easily be prepared 

 moist enough in dry weather to check their thirst. 



The only time the birds might require water is 

 when they are fed entirely on hard food, as barley or 

 Indian corn ; and such, if thought necessary, can 

 always be given in a wet condition from being steeped 

 in water ; but then, at this period of their lives, the 

 birds roam far and near, and gather sufficient mois- 

 ture off the herbage. 



It is amusing to be told that water should be given 

 young pheasants, and that it should be frequently 

 changed throughout the day ; * why, such a course 

 would entail the employment of a man to do nothing 

 else in the event of a considerable number of birds to 

 superintend. 



The hens, however, do require a drink in a dry 

 time, as they are shut up in stuffy hot coops ; if you 

 soak their food for a few minutes in water, and serve 

 it out wet, you will supply their wants in this respect. 



The great danger in giving water to young phea- 

 sants is that it may be fouled by excrement or become 

 stale from not being changed. It is far better to 

 give none than run the risk of this occurring. 



If the ground is hard and scorched in the rearing 



* This is what we are told to do in some of the books on pheasant 

 rearing ! ' Lock up such works in your carpet bag, and keep them 

 under your bed,' as the shooter advised the student to do with his 

 pet authors, when the latter complained he had no space to store his 

 books so as to be handy for reference in the small room of a Highland 

 lodge ! 



