128 HISTORY or 



the snow, and frequently takes tbem in springs. But of all 

 birds they are shot most easily, as they always make a whirring 

 noise when they rise, by which they alarm the gunner, and being 

 a large mark, and flying very slow, there is scarcely any missuig 

 them. 



.Ah ; wh.it avail his glossy, varying dyes, 



His purpled crest, and scarlet circled eyes, 



The vivij ^reen his shining i)lumes unfold. 



His painted wings, and breast that flames with gold. Pops. 



When these birds are taken young into keeping, they become 

 as familiar as chickens ; and when they are designed for breed- 

 ing, they are put together in a yard, five hens to a cock ; for this 

 bird, like all of the poultry kind, is very salacious. In her na- 

 tural state the female makes her nest of dry grass and leaves ; 

 the same must be laid for her in the pheasantry, and she herself 

 will sometimes properly dispose tbem. If she refuses to hatch 

 her eggs, then a common hen must be got to supply her place, 

 which task she will perform with perseverance and success. 

 The young ones are very diflicult to be reared ; and they must be 

 supplied with ants' eggs, which is the food the old one leads them 

 to gather when wild in the woods. To make these go the farther, 

 they are chopped up with curds, or other meat ; and the young 

 ones are to be fed with great exactness, both as to the quantity 

 and the time of their supply. This food is sometimes also to be 

 varied, and woodlice, earwigs, and other insects, are to make a 

 variety. The place where they are reared must be kept ex- 

 tremely clean ; their water must be changed twice or thrice a 

 day; they must not be exposed till the dew is off the ground in 

 the morning ; and they should always be taken in before sun- 

 set. When they become adult, they very well can shift for 

 themselves, but they are particularly I'ond of oats and barley. 



In order to increase the breed, and make it still more valua- 

 ble, Longolius teaches us a method that appears very peculiar. 

 The pheasant is a very bold bird, when first brought into the 

 yard among other poultry, not sparing the peacock, nor even 

 such young cocks and hens as it can master ; but after a time 

 it will live tamely among them, and will at last be brought to 

 couple with a common hen. The breed thus produced take 

 inuch stronger after the pheasant than the hen ; and in a few 

 successions, if they be left to breed with a cock pheasant, (for 



