AGE WILD. 



for the beautiful symmetry of its form ; and when 

 Croesus, king of Lydia, was seated on his throne, 

 adorned with royal magnificence, and all the blazing 

 pomp of Eastern splendour, it is recorded that he 

 asked Solon whether he had ever before beheld so 

 much finery. The Greek philosopher replied, he 

 had seen the beautiful plumage of the pheasant, and 

 had found nothing superior. 



The phea-sant is not a long-lived bird ; but it is 

 probable the PERIOD OF EXISTENCE assigned to it by 

 some writers, namely, six or seven years, is too 

 short. The wholesomeness of its flesh was prover- 

 bial among the old physicians ; it is of a high flavour 

 and alkalescent quality, and in perfection during 

 autumn. A young pheasant very fat is reckoned an 

 exquisite dainty. In a wild state, the hen LAYS 

 from eighteen to twenty eggs in a season, but sel- 

 dom more than ten in a state of confinement. 

 Pheasants are not to be tamed by domestication, 

 like other fowls ; nor is the flesh of those brought 

 up in the house, in any degree comparable to that 

 of the wild pheasant : thence they are bred at home, 

 either merely for show, or for the purpose of re- 

 plenishing the proprietor's grounds, both with regard 

 to number or particular varieties. However good 

 nursing mothers in a wild state, pheasant hens are 

 far otherwise in the house, whence their eggs are 

 always HATCHED at home by the common hen, gene- 

 rally, at present, by the smooth-legged BANTAM. 

 The above particulars on the laying and habits of 

 the pheasant, were derived from the experience of 



