184 PHEASANTS FOB COVERTS AND AVIARIES. 



wild and wary nature^ it is not a desirable bird from a 

 sporting point of view, except in very large ranges of wood- 

 land ; and from what we have heard from a friend, who has 

 been in the native haunts of this fine bird in the mountains 

 of Northern China, we are inclined to think that it is more 

 likely to prosper in Scotland and in Wales than in our own 

 Midlands. The hybrids between this and the common 

 pheasant are beautiful birds, but not, so far as we have been 

 able to ascertain, prolific." 



The late Mr. Home, of Hereford, who reared numbers of 

 the Reeves's pheasants, forwarded to me a letter from a lady 

 who has been most successful with them in the extreme north 

 of England regarding this species. This lady writes : 



" The cock and two hens I pm'chased have done wonders, 

 and my estate is now fairly stocked with birds, having put all 

 the season's eggs in nests of the common pheasant, except 

 a few which I reared myself and a few which I sold. My hens 

 last season averaged nearly fifty eggs each — not bad laying.'' 



Not only in the extreme north, but in the more cultivated 

 parts of England, Reeves's pheasants have done well. One 

 gentleman informs me that during the year 1895 he raised 

 more than twenty in the open, which are now all in full 

 plumage, and that he found them easy to rear. 



There can be no doubt whatever that, as suggested by 

 Lord Lilford, the bird being from North China, is hardy and 

 well adapted to mountainous districts, such as those of Scot- 

 land and Wales. It appears that the easiest way of intro- 

 ducing it as a wild bird in those places to which it is adapted 

 would be to place the eggs in the nests of pheasants breeding 

 in the open. Reared under those circumstances, the young- 

 would be hardy and vigorous in the extreme, and would be 

 much more likely to do well than if hand-reared and turned 

 out afterwards. The hybrids between the Reeves's and the 

 common species are generally supposed to be sterile, which 

 may be regarded as a point in their favour rather than other- 

 wise, as no monoTel crosses would be introduced, and Reeves's 



