18 PRACTICAL PHEASANT REARING. 



incumbent for their nests if you wish for a satisfactory 

 result. Add to this that their skins are black, and 

 consequently, if sent to table, the gourmet will turn 

 away in disgust, and I have finished abusing the once- 

 fashionable " silkies." 



It is quite futile to attempt to operate with the 

 natural mother, pheasants, except in a wild state, 

 being perfectly useless for purposes of incubation, 

 although I have known very good work to be done 

 with an old hen turkey that has made herself a 

 natural nest in a hedge. Bantams are very frequently 

 recommended, but, except for partridges, they are 

 more trouble than they are worth, being so very 

 small, and a medium-sized cross-bred fowl will be 

 found best in the long run, of a light but thickly- 

 feathered sort, and of a quiet unexcitable nature and 

 equable temper. 



It will be useful for a keeper to know when to 

 expect his hens to commence the desire to incubate. 

 The first symptoms of this desirable crisis are 

 displayed in the combs, which get perceptibly paler in 

 colour ; the hen changes her note, the voice gets 

 softer, and she shows a decided inclination to remain 

 longer each day on her nest. The old ladies also 

 stick up their feathers, and, like many retired officers, 

 look very fierce without in the least intending to be 

 so. Therefore, when your old hen looks for all the 

 world as if she would eat you on your morning visit, 

 clap her on to a nest full of china eggs, and leave her 



