28 Game and Foxes. 



formed a few feet from the sides of rides, paths, 

 &c., intersecting: the coverts, from which they 

 may easily be seen by the birds ; also in fences 

 surrounding a covert. Pheasants are fond of 

 nesting close to a track, and, if nests are made in 

 number according to the birds a covert contains, 

 few will go outside to lay. These artificial nests 

 save a lot of labour in searching, and as the 

 keeper knows where each is it is easy for him to 

 protect them from foxes. If several hens do 

 happen to lay in one nest this only facilitates the 

 collection of the eggs necessary for home hatch- 

 ing. Should no artificial nests be made to attract 

 the pheasants to lay in certain spots they will 

 nest where they like, and it will be a clever keeper 

 who finds all ; some nests are sure to escape even 

 his keen sight, and the first evidence of the latter 

 which greets his eye may be feathers and shells 

 strewn all over the place, proving that a fox is 

 the better searcher. 



If a few pheasants be desired to produce 

 broods at liberty the keeper should arrange 

 artificial nests in places where a fox is unlikely to 

 find them, and where they may at little trouble be 

 protected against that contingency. However 

 carefully he conceals such nests a pheasant hen is 

 nearly certain to discover each one and adopt it ; 



