WINTER SHIFTS. 239 



pheasants cry and dash in their swift flight, more 

 like scarlet macaws gone mad than pheasants. A 

 most exasperating sight it is for their owner to see 

 bruised and broken tail-feathers on the ground, 

 magnificent ones, too, four and five feet in length, 

 from the tail of Reeves's pheasant the birds look- 

 ing like a lot of frightened scarecrows, compared 

 with their wonted brave appearance, one or two in 

 a dead or dying state from battering themselves 

 against the wire-netting. The aviaries are neces- 

 sarily large, both long and broad and high, so as 

 to give room for the magnificent plumes. I have 

 seen one of these glorious birds dashing itself with 

 a thud against the bars of its perches, frightened by 

 a sneaking fox in the day-time. At night it will be 

 far worse. 



This villanous conduct on the part of the fox is 

 forced on him by the shifts to which he is reduced. 

 Rabbits are supposed to be a legitimate food for 

 him ; but as they fetch in this neighbourhood, in 

 the heart of the country, from sixteen to eighteen 

 pence without their skins, foxes are not able to 

 get all that they require at times. One must look 

 at things from many sides. I have seen wild crea- 



