REARING AND BREEDING PHEASANTS. 249 



Aviaries must be well sheltered from the 

 north and west, facing the south, and the soil 

 dry. 



Do not build them near old houses or sheds, 

 ricks, or covered drains, because rats will soon 

 be tempted to come to the food, and when they 

 once get through, it is almost an impossibility 

 to keep these pests out. 



Keepers frequently put four, or even five 

 hens to a cock ; but there are quite enough to 

 ensure good and fertile eggs. 



The pens are often made very much too small, 

 which is a great mistake, as birds in too con- 

 fined a space never thrive well. 



The proper size pen for three hens and a 

 cock is about twenty or twenty-four yards long, 

 and sixteen or eighteen yards wide. 



The best way, however, and by far the most 

 economical one, and where a manor has the 

 vermin well kept down, is to enclose a space 

 large enough to hold seventy or eighty hens ; 

 construct this near a favourite cover, and 

 where it is warm, dry, and sheltered ; the wire 

 net which encloses it should be eight feet high, 

 and the mesh one and a half inch ; this will 



