54 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS 



successful with the pheasants, and some of them already 

 have very good shooting. I am informed that at one 

 of the clubs on Long Island the shooting is now as 

 good or better than that to be had on most English 

 estates of similar size. This club each year releases 

 about two thousand birds in the covers, which have 

 been bred on neighboring farms. In Ohio, the pheas- 

 ants are propagated by the State, and distributed each 

 year. Many of the Ohio clubs have also liberated 

 pheasants on their preserves, and they are now abun- 

 dant in many places, more especially on the grounds of 

 the duck clubs which control the shooting on the 

 marshes south of Lake Erie. The heavy sedge seems 

 to offer a safe refuge for the birds, and no doubt pro- 

 tects them from hawks and other enemies. The shoot, 

 ing is not yet open in Ohio, but last year, when sketch, 

 ing in the marshes, I saw many pheasants, which (as I 

 came upon them in fields or in the paths through the 

 sedge) flew away with a loud clucking like the prairie- 

 grouse, presenting about the same, or little more diffi- 

 cult marks. 



Although only about twenty-five birds were liberated 

 on the grounds of the Ottawa Club (Sandusky) and 

 there has been no effort made toward propagation, 

 they have increased rapidly, and there are now thou- 

 sands of birds on their preserve. 



In England and the older countries the shooting of 

 pheasants is largely done at the battue^ and a recent 

 writer for Harper s Weekly (I don't know who, since the 

 article was unsigned) well says : " It used to be the 

 fashion to sneer at the battue ; men who had killed big 

 game in the forest laughed at the picture of good King 



