FEEDING IN PENS. 87 



With regard to the employment of animal food, such as 

 horseflesh, greaves, &c., I believe its use, except in the very 

 smallest quantity, to be exceedingly injurious ; nor do I 

 approve of the spiced condiments so strongly recommended 

 by the makers. The bodies of dead domestic animals can, 

 however, be most advantageously utilised by allowing them 

 to become thoroughly fly-blown, and then burying them under 

 about a foot of loose soil in the pens, where the maggots go 

 through the regular stages of growth, after which they work 

 their way to the surface cleansed of all impurities in their 

 passage through the soil. They furnish an admirable supply 

 of insect food for the birds, and give them constant occupa- 

 tion and exercise in scratching in the ground. Utilised in 

 this manner, the bodies of dead fowls, or any small domestic 

 animals, are perfectly inoffensive, and the result is most 

 beneficial to the birds. 



The employment of crushed bones, as a substitute for the 

 varied animal substances the pheasant feeds upon when in a 

 wild state, is highly advantageous. Mr. F. Crook writes : 

 " We have seen many instances of game being perfectly cured 

 of both eating their eggs and plucking each other, by the 

 continual practice of giving a portion of well-smashed bones 

 every day. These remarks apply more especially to the home 

 pheasantries, in consequence of the absence of the natural 

 shell stuff they pick up when at liberty, but we would 

 recommend some to be thrown about the feeding grounds of 

 the preserves, as the highly nutritious nature of the elements 

 of smashed fresh bones conduces remarkably to keep the birds 

 together, particularly in very w et seasons, when the condition 

 of the land renders it impossible for them to scratch about to 

 the same extent/' Should the aviary be situated on soil in 

 which small stones are absent, these must be supplied ; this 

 is conveniently done by throwing in some fresh gravel once or 

 twice a week ; but it has been found that small granite grit 

 is an excellent material, and some of the most successful 

 rearers are in the habit of having truckloads of this forwarded 



