PHEASANT REARING 79 



the question so often asked as to whether pheasants drive 

 away quails and grouse from their haunts or destroy them by 

 attack or breaking up nests. I believe there is no cause for 

 apprehension. Pheasants are natural cowards, and Rogers 

 says he has often seen a quail or a sparrow in a pen drive a 

 pheasant. As to the ruffed grouse, these frequent the woods, 

 while the pheasant shuns the forest and selects scrub pastures, 

 swamps, and agricultural land. That pheasants do not de- 

 stroy quails is indicated by the case of Gardiner's Island, 

 New York, where pheasants and quails both abound, neither 

 being able to fly to the mainland. 



Vices. Feather-plucking and egg-eating are other bad 

 habits in confinement which sometimes break out. It is 

 recognized that these come from lack of needed animal food. 

 Increasing this will generally stop the former. In case an 

 individual persists, it should be removed. Egg-eating is 

 harder to stop. Devices which sometimes work, in con- 

 junction with giving more animal food, are as follows: 

 Eggs should be collected often, and emptied eggs filled with 

 kerosene and red pepper can be left out for them to try. 

 Sometimes artificial eggs are placed around the pen. An- 

 other plan used is to clip off the point of the bill, just to the 

 quick, to make it a trifle sore, so they will not peck. Birds 

 that have the habit badly should be removed, especially at 

 the beginning, for one such bird seems to teach the others. 



Preparation for Breeding. Pheasants are early breeders, 

 beginning to lay usually about the middle of April, or earlier 

 in mild weather. Mating begins by March, or even Feb- 

 ruary, and lasts till July. Stock should be put in breeding- 

 quarters about a month before the laying period, soon after 

 the snow melts off. 



Large Pen Breeding Method. For breeding, two plans 

 are employed: The first is to keep a considerable number of 



