GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL. 



be observed that the eggs obtained through these 

 ambiguous and uncertain channels are frequently 

 good for nothing. Half the number are either 

 addled or contain dead chicks, in different stages 

 of development, having been abstracted, probably 

 many days before, from various nests, and kept 

 perhaps in a cupboard or underneath a bed in 

 the stuffy cabin of the robber until a sufficient 

 number had been collected to ensure a profitable 

 day's sale. 



An efficient plan for procuring the eggs in a 

 fresh state may be adopted by any person residing 

 in the country who can afford to devote to the 

 purpose a well fenced piece of ground, in a quiet 

 situation, with a dry soil and a southern aspect. 

 The wall or wooden fence ought to be high, and 

 the top entirely covered with a net, which may 

 be supported in the centre by one or more tall 

 poles. A few heaps of dead bushes or dry fag- 

 gots should be placed in each corner and in dif- 

 ferent parts of the enclosure, and a supply of 

 fresh water must not be forgotten. Here may be 

 lodged from twenty to thirty pheasants, accord- 

 ing to the dimensions of the place. It is abso- 

 lutely necessary that they should be what are 

 called ' tame bred birds,' that is, birds which 

 have been hatched and reared under domestic 

 hens, as those which are netted or caught in a 



