2l6 



OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS 



These are the kinds most often seen in aviaries and at poultry 

 shows. There are many other rare and curious varieties which 

 are to be seen only in the finest collections. Among these is 

 a class called the Eared Pheasants, because of the little tufts of 

 feathers which project backward at each side of the head, look- 

 ing strikingly like the ears of a mammal. The pheasants of this 

 class are mostly dull colored and quite docile in disposition. 



Place in domestication. The future place of pheasants in 

 domestication is not so plainly indicated by their history and 



present position as the places 

 of the guinea and the turkey 

 seem to be. Pheasants seem 

 to be more desirable, easier 

 to control, better suited to 

 confinement, and also better 

 adapted to wintering out of 

 doors in cold climates, than 

 are guineas. The beauty of 

 the ornamental types makes 

 them very desirable to those 

 who keep birds for pleasure. 

 Because they are so much 

 smaller than peafowl, and 

 also because they are able 

 to live amicably with fowls, 

 they may be kept where pea- 





FIG. 172. Monaul, a Himalayan 

 pheasant 



fowl could not. It is there- 

 fore probable that, as people in America become more familiar 

 with pheasants, and as they learn that the greatest pleasure and 

 the surest profit in aviculture are to be found in growing a few 

 birds under the most favorable conditions that can be made for 

 them, the numbers of pheasant fanciers will greatly increase. 



In England pheasants are extensively grown in game pre- 

 serves, for shooting and for sale as breeding stock to those 



