

BAKTLETT ON REARING PHEASANTS. 123 



When the hens are cooped, as is necessary where numbers 

 of pheasants are reared, a good supply of fresh vegetable food 

 is absolutely necessary ; and I believe that nothing surpasses 

 chopped lettuce, which should be running to seed, and con- 

 sequently milky, as the pheasants take to it much more readily 

 than they do to onions, watercress, &c., or other green food. 

 The greater the variety of food the better ; therefore, in 

 addition to the articles before spoken of, a little crushed 

 hempseed, millet, dari, and coarse Indian corn meal, if fresh, 

 may be added. 



As the mode of treating pheasant chicks by different 

 breeders varies considerably, it is desirable that I should 

 indicate the management which has been found successful in 

 other hands. I will first quote the directions of the late 

 Mr. Bartlett, the superintendent of the gardens of the 

 Zoological Society, Eegent's Park. This paper was written 

 for Mr. D. Gr. Elliot's " Monograph OQ the Phasianidae," and 

 I beg to return my thanks to these gentlemen for permission 

 to quote it in extenso. Mr. Bartlett writes : " At first the 

 chicks require rather soft food, but not very moist. One of 

 the best things to give them is hard-boiled egg grated fine, and 

 mixed with good sweet meal, a little bruised hempseed, and 

 finely chopped green food, such as lettuce, cabbage, water- 

 cress, or mustard and cress. Meal mixed with boiled milk 

 until it is like a tough dough, sufficiently dry to crumble 

 easily, together with a small quantity of millet and canary 

 seed, is also excellent for them. A baked custard pudding, 

 made of well-beaten eggs and milk, is likewise of great 

 service to the young; and, if the season is wet and cold, a 

 little pepper, and sufficient dry meal to render it stiff enough 

 to crumble, should be added before baking. Ants' eggs, 

 meal worms, and grasshoppers are also very useful. The 

 first of these are easily obtained in a dry state, in which con- 

 dition they can be kept many months, and are invaluable. 

 Care should be taken that fresh and finely-chopped green 

 food should be given daily. Many persons are in the habit 



