PHEASANTS' NESTS. 211 



gon loads of faggots, deposited here and there 

 in the copse, afford a ready shelter for the 

 more timid birds, who betake themselves at once 

 to this retreat at the first alarm from the ap- 

 proaching beaters, while a large heap at the 

 farthest corner serves as a temporary asylum to 

 the main body, and furnishes a grand finale to 

 the host and his gunner guests, who thus acquire 

 a better appetite for their turtle and turbot in 

 the afternoon, than a knowledge of fair play or 

 real British sport in the morning. 



But to return. It cannot be denied that dur- 

 ing the laying season game-birds require at least 

 as much attention as is paid to them at other 

 times of the year ; and it would not be difficult 

 to show that an increased share of activity and 

 vigilance is then necessary on the part of their 

 protectors. It is true that Nature, ever kind, 

 has clothed the hen pheasant in a homely 

 garb, which in many an instance enables her 

 to elude observation, and thus renders her 

 better service than a coat of mail under similar 

 circumstances; but the practised thief has no 

 occasion to search for pheasants' nests. The eggs 

 are usually deposited in rank grass on the sides 

 of hedges and ditches, in narrow plantations, or in 

 meadows, clover, or corn-fields ; and very rarely 

 in the heart of great woods or covers, to which 



