PHEASANT-SHOOTING. 249 



English rural districts the pheasant's beauty appeals. 

 Even as he is whirled along in the train, the 

 traveller's eye is caught by the bright hues of the 

 cocks, attended by their more soberly clad hens, 

 feeding along the woodside or gleaning on the short 

 stubble. I know no bird which so greatly gives the 

 impression of gorgeousness to a landscape as the 

 pheasant does save and except the peacock. Pea- 

 fowl in their native jungles are a sight not yet 

 familiar to all of us, however, even in these " globe- 

 trotting " days, but the pheasant is to be seen almost 

 everywhere. I have been surprised by his presence 

 on the water-side very few miles above Hampton 

 Court, I have seen him on the lower spurs of 

 Helvellyn, on the whilom Royal Forest of Exmoor, 

 and on the rifle-ranges at Bisley. Even when unseen, 

 his loud challenge commonly, but surely badly, de- 

 scribed as a crow imparts a feeling of wildness to the 

 landscape, whence, alas ! all the aboriginal sounds of 

 this nature the cry of the buzzard, the whistle of the 

 otter, and the yawn-like sound produced by the 

 amorous stag have long since been banished by 

 civilisation. 



Almost every autumn the sporting papers treat us 

 to a disquisition on driving or not driving. As 

 regards grouse and partridges I bring an open mind 

 to the question. There is much to be said on both 

 sides. As regards the pheasant there is only one 

 possible view to be taken. The pheasant was as 

 obviously made for driving as the fox for hunting. 

 How often have I laughed at the denunciations in a 



