THE PHEASANT 



PHASIANUS COLCHICUS 



LOCAL names in surrounding counties : 



STATUS IN BRITISH AVIFAUNA : A common resident, 

 non-indigenous, wherever it is preserved. 



RADIAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 

 PAUL'S : The Pheasant is best known to Londoners as an 

 attractive item of the game-dealer's stock between October 

 and January ; still it may be met with in a wild state in 

 one or two localities well within the nine-mile radius. 

 Probably its nearest haunt to St. Paul's is Wimbledon 

 Common, where I have frequently watched its ways in 

 the wooded portions of that grand retreat for wild life. 

 Then it is found in Richmond Park, breeding in the various 

 enclosures from which the public is excluded, but often 

 to be seen furtively wandering outside them or conceal- 

 ing itself amidst the ample cover of the bracken. Coombe 

 Wood, between these two localities, is another London 

 haunt of the Pheasant. Elsewhere round the Metro- 

 polis the distribution of this species calls for little further 

 comment. It is found in many localities in the remote 

 outlying districts, but nowhere in a normally wild state, 

 and only in places where it is preserved for the sport it 

 yields. Stragglers occasionally wander into other areas, 

 but in no case do these include any of the central dis- 

 tricts. It may be of interest to note that the first record 

 of the Pheasant as a British bird is an Essex one. 



Plenty of cover and freedom from molestation are abso- 

 lutely essential for the Pheasant. Its inherent shyness 

 and timidity demand in our country the same conditions 

 of existence as are enjoyed by its wild progenitors in the 

 jungles of the East. Although the Pheasant spends most of 

 its time upon the ground, it roosts in trees and tall bushes, 

 and seldom wanders beyond easy reach of dense cover of 



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