" Wood and water are essential to its well being." 



THE COMMON PHEASANT 



I 



T is a generally accepted 

 belief that the Romans first 

 introduced this beautiful 

 and eminently useful bird 

 to the British Islands. 

 Wood and water are essen- 

 tial to its well being, and 

 although it has been known 

 to maintain itself in a perfectly wild 

 state in some favoured districts for a 

 period of upwards of forty years, it is 

 very doubtful whether it would be able 

 to do so indefinitely without the fostering 

 care of man. 



There are very few places where pure- 

 bred examples of the Brown or, as it is 

 sometimes called, Old English Pheasant, 

 are to be met with, on account of the fact 

 that it has been crossed almost every- 

 where with the hardy Chinese or ringed 

 species. 



The males are very pugnacious, and 

 being polygamous birds, as we now know 

 them, fight desperate battles in the pair- 

 ing season whilst gathering together the 



members of their harems. At such 

 times I have known them indiscreetly 

 enter a farmyard and try conclusions 

 with a rooster. 



The food of the Pheasant in a feral 

 state of existence consists of grain, seeds, 

 young shoots, berries, acorns, hazel nuts, 

 and different kinds of insects. The 

 species is said to be particularly fond of 

 wireworms, for which curious and useful 

 predilection all agriculturists ought to 

 be grateful. 



The nest is made on the ground 

 amongst rough grass, at the foot of a 

 hedge, beneath brambles, bracken, and 

 undergrowth in woods, coppices, and 

 plantations. Hedgebanks on public road- 

 sides would appear to exercise a peculiar 

 fascination, and during a morning's walk 

 I have had three or four sitting pheasants 

 shown to me by a friend in such situa- 

 tions. Positions of this kind are not so 

 dangerous as they might at first sight 

 appear, for, by a wise provision of 

 Nature during the critical period of 



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