S'J8 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



N est ggs Food . 



breeds in clover-fields. She forms her nest ou 

 the ground : and lays from twelve to fifteen eggs, 

 which are smaller than ihose of the domestic 

 lien. In the mowing of clover near the woods 

 frequented by pheasants, the destruction of their 

 eggs is sometimes very great. In some places, 

 therefore, game-keepers have directions to hunt 

 them from these fields as soon as they hegin to 

 lay, until their haunt is broken and they retire 

 into the corn. Poultry hens are often kept ready 

 for sitting on an}' eggs that may be exposed by 

 the scythe; and with care, numbers are thus res- 

 cued from destruction. The nest is usually com- 

 posed of a few dry. vegetables put carelessly to- 

 gether; and the young follow die mother like 

 chickens, as soon as they break the shell. The 

 pheasants and their brood remain in the stubbles 

 and hedge-rows, if undisturbed, for some time 

 after the corn is ripe. If disturbed, they seek 

 the woods, and only issue thence in the mornings 

 and evenings to feed in the stubbles. They are 

 very fond of corn : they can, however, procure a 

 subsistence without it; since they often feed on 

 the wild berries of the woods, and on acorns. 

 In confinement the female neither lays so many 

 eggs, nor hatches and rears her brood with so 

 much care and vigilance, as in the fields out of 

 the immediate observation of man. In a mew 

 she will very rarely dispose them in a nest or sit 

 upon them at all. Indeed, in the business of 

 incubation and rearing the young, the domestic 



