66 PHEASANTS FOB COVERTS AND AVIARIES. 



bore a large hole in the body for the nail^ which is to be 

 driven into the branch. Place these mock birds pretty thick 

 where pheasants roost. By boring the hole in the body 

 lin. diameter they will, when placed on a nail, move with 

 the wind, when the deception is perfect enough, as they are 

 difficult to distinguish from a pheasant, even ia daylight. 

 Whatever kind of mock pheasant is employed, they should 

 not be placed too near public roads or footpaths, and in 

 those cases in which they are liable to observation during 

 the day they should be moved frequently. 



Alarm guns set in coverts with wires leading in different 

 directions are most valuable as alarming poachers, and 

 indicating the locality in which they are pursuing their 

 •depredations. One of the best, and certainly the cheapest, 

 alarm guns with which I am acquainted, is that devised 

 by Captain Darwin, and described in his useful manual on 

 Game Preserving, which has been too long out of print. The 

 author writes : " I have constructed an alarm gun which 

 combines the desiderata of cheapness and simplicity more 

 completely than any I have yet seen. I do not lay claim to 

 the invention of this gun, but I certainly find I can adopt 

 materials in its construction that will come to a tenth part of 

 the money usually charged ; in fact, any tolerable mechanic 

 ought to make it in an hour. It is formed as follows : get a 

 piece of iron gas pipe, three inches long and thi-ee-quarters 

 bore. At the threaded end make a plug of iron a quarter of 

 an inch thick, and tapped in the centre for a nipple. Drive 

 this plug into the barrel, and braze it. The nipple is then 

 screwed in. Then get a corresponding piece of the gas-pipe, 

 from two i'eet six inches to three feet long, also threaded at 

 the end. Screw the collar (that always goes along with this 

 sort of gas pipe) on to the long piece as tight as it will go. 

 The gun is now complete with the exception of the hammer, 

 which is a piece of round iron about a foot long, and slipping 

 easily down the barrel. To set the gun you must tie the long 

 barrel fast to the stem of a tree in the plantation, with the 



