the present day are crosses between the Common Pheasant and Ring-necked 

 species. Pairing takes place every spring in April and May, and many are 

 the fierce fights which take place over the females, the strongest males often 

 having as many as eight or nine in their harem. As soon as the eggs 

 are laid the male deserts them altogether, and leaves them to rear their 

 families alone, though instances have been recorded of the male being put 

 up from the nest. The flight of the Pheasant is very swift, and is performed 

 by rapid whirring beats of its rounded wings. Few birds make such a noise 

 in rising from the ground as an old cock Pheasant, the loud rattling whir of 

 his wings sounding somewhat startling as he rises unexpectedly in some quiet 

 corner of the wood. 



The hen Pheasant makes her own nest, which is a very simple structure, 

 being merely a slight hollow in the ground lined with a little dry grass and 

 a few leaves. It is usually placed under some tangle of brambles or briar, 

 among dead ferns or tussocks of grass. From nine to fourteen eggs are 

 laid, though as many as twenty-six are sometimes found ; probably these large 

 clutches are the produce of more than one bird. The eggs are olive-brown 

 in colour, sometimes bluish green, with a smooth and polished shell full of 

 very minute pits. They vary in length from 1*92 to 175 inch, and in breadth 

 from 1*45 to 133 inch. Very small eggs are occasionally met with, generally 

 known by the keepers as ' toys.' 



The old bird is very wary when leaving and approaching her nest, always 

 flying from it and returning in the same way, so that no scent is left for 

 an enemy to track. When she leaves the nest to feed she carefully covers the 

 eggs with leaves and grass from the sides. Only one brood is reared in 

 the season, the hen taking charge of them in much the same manner as the 

 domestic fowl ; but the Pheasant is rather a careless mother, and often loses 

 many of her chicks in ditches or long grass, seeming to be quite content if 

 two or three chicks are following her. The young birds advance towards 

 maturity very slowly, and seldom are able to fly before the end of July even 

 later in some seasons. 



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