PHEASANT NURSERY. 81 



admit of the ingress and egress of the chicks, 

 yet so close as to prevent the hen from quitting 

 it. A lid to fit this part of the coop, or ' rip,' 

 should be laid over it at sunset every evening. 

 This will prevent the unwelcome intrusion of 

 stoats and weasels, and though last, not least 

 in iniquity, of rats. It should be placed in its 

 proper position as gently as possible so as not 

 to alarm the young pheasants, who, as they ad- 

 vance towards maturity, become exceeding shy 

 and wary, start from underneath the wings of the 

 hen at the slightest alarm and betake themselves 

 to the nearest cover, from which it is frequently 

 a long time before they again issue, and if the 

 shades of evening have fallen in the mean time, 

 they have no little difficulty in retracing their 

 steps to their own habitation. 



The coops should be moved morning and even- 

 ing, as the hen ought to have a fresh piece of 

 greensward underneath her twice every day. At- 

 tention to this point is of the greatest importance. 

 She may be fed with barley, rye, or oats the 

 first is the best which should be thrown inside 

 the coop, but the ants' eggs, and whatever is in- 

 tended exclusively as food for the chicks, ought 

 to be placed just on the outside, or she would 

 have no compunction in appropriating the greater 

 portion of it to herself. When about a week 



E 5 



