Pheasants Rearing by Hand. 29 



the eggs are set in each box should be carefully noted, and 

 if a hatching house be used, a record may, with advantage, 

 be kept and daily posted up as to all the dates, numbers, &c., 

 of the eggs, and any little circumstances of interest which 

 may occur during the hatching time. Every morning at the 

 same time the hens must be taken off and fed. They should 

 not be allowed to return to the eggs too quickly, but the nest 

 should get its proper supply of fresh air. No sprinkling or 

 turning of the eggs is required. The only thing necessary 

 is to copy the natural order of things as nearly as possible ; 

 it is the best and only reliable plan, strict observance of 

 which may warrant one expecting success. It is a recom- 

 mendation worthy of adoption to bore a row of holes round 

 the bottom of the sitting boxes on a level with the eggs, so 

 as to admit a free current of air through them. 



When the hens are feeding, or after, they should be pro- 

 vided with a dust bath and water. Some go the length of 

 enclosing the hens under a coop with a pan of wood ashes and 

 another of water, but it is obvious that what the hens want 

 they will quickly find in the pen if it be present and available. 



The food of the fowls must be good and plentiful, so that 

 they sit steadily and comfortably. A daily bite of green food 

 is highly beneficial. 



When the eggs have been sat on not less than a week, and 

 from the seventh to the tenth day, they should be examined 

 with a view to discovering and removing the unfertile ones, 

 and replacing them if possible. The testers which are in 

 frequent use for examining hens' eggs are of little service 

 for those of pheasants, the latter being too small. The best 

 way to gain the desired information is to remove the eggs to 



