282 THE COMPLETE SHOT 



choice, differs greatly from the ground the pheasant prefers. 

 The latter is bog ground for feeding in, and also very frequently 

 the dry grass patches or tussocks in the bog for laying upon, 

 and only the coverts for roosting. Human judgment not being 

 able to supply all these in one small confined place, compromises 

 by supplying neither, and giving a dry, sloping, sunny, sheltered, 

 but treeless bare ground patch of earth, often turf in the 

 beginning, but bare earth before the termination of the laying 

 season. 



There are many other methods of providing for the wants of 

 pheasants, some of which cannot be recommended. There is 

 no space to mention all, and therefore the writer is obliged to 

 confine his remarks to those he believes to be the best, and those 

 he has known to succeed up to expectations. But a few 

 remarks are perhaps necessary about some of them. For 

 instance, the plan of having laying pens moved annually is good 

 if suitable space can be spared. Wattle hurdles have been used 

 to make these cheap movable pens of all sizes. But they are 

 objectionable for small pens, as likely to keep the sun off the 

 ground without keeping the draught out. Indeed, they are very 

 draughty affairs, and pheasants hate wind, and do not succeed 

 without sun. In order to successfully use wattle hurdles of 

 6 feet square, the ground should be large enough to fully benefit 

 by the morning sun's ray when at an angle of less than 

 30 degrees. Then, in order to keep out the draught, it is useful to 

 convert the bottom 2 feet of the hurdles into wattle and daub. 

 This has the misfortune of making them rather heavy to move 

 about. 



For years the annual digging up process was carried on 

 with success at Sandringham. 



In order to prevent insects from infesting the sitting hens, it 

 is good to have dusting sheds, and occasionally to remove the 

 hens to these. Slacked lime and earth kept dry under cover 

 is the best material for this purpose, but if it is necessary the 

 same results can be attained by the use of plenty of insect 

 powder in the nests. 



Pheasants in laying pens rarely get enough green stuff. It 



