Pheasants Natural History. 



spinney, and although it may wander about somewhat, its 

 daily existence is invariably within certain bounds, which are 

 only transgressed under exceptional circumstances. At night, 

 the pheasant except during a certain portion of the year 

 goes to roost on some neighbouring tree which offers a 

 horizontal branch to perch upon, but its preference for the 

 larch is very marked, and it is noteworthy that pheasants at 

 roost on this kind of tree are the more visible from beneath to 

 any would-be poacher by reason of the scantiness of its 

 foliage. The pheasant's next favourite roosting resort is the 

 spruce tree, and to this belongs every desirable quality for the 

 purpose, and were this sort of fir universally adopted for 

 pheasant preserves, a great blow would be struck at night- 

 poaching. Oak, ash, holly, and other trees which offer 

 the necessary requirements are also freely resorted to. 

 Pheasants do not roost exactly in company, side by side, 

 yet not often widely apart, and where one bird finds 

 a suitable night's quarters, others are not far distant 

 from the spot. 



Just before the female bird commences the preliminaries 

 of her peculiar duties, she leaves the boughs at night and 

 finds a roost on the ground, generally ensconcing herself 

 amongst some long grass at the foot of a tree or beneath 

 a shrub. About the same time, or perhaps a little before, 

 the male also adjourns to terra firma for his night's 

 lodging, forsaking the trees until he is able to return to 

 them at the end of summer, accompanied by his numerous 

 progeny and mates. The pheasant is, it is almost unneces- 

 sary to say, polygamous, each cock bird taking, when in an 

 uninfluenced state, from three to five hens under his care, 



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