112 PHEASANTS 



Nor should the hunt claim to come 

 among the pheasants as a blessing in 

 disguise. It is quite a common belief in 

 hunting circles that drawing pheasant 

 coverts before they have been shot does 

 little harm and teaches the bird how to 

 fly to the improvement of sport later on. 

 But the evils of disturbance among birds 

 so naturally disposed to wander as 

 pheasants are very real, and do not only 

 exist in the keeper's imagination ; all the 

 world is the same to the pheasant that 

 has strayed a few hundred yards from 

 home ; good living and shelter are all he 

 seeks, and his movements arc quite un- 

 influenced by any sentimental regard for 

 home. 



The injustice that owners of coverts 

 who preserve their foxes religiously feel 

 most keenly is that they are often tacitly 

 expected to support not only enough 

 foxes to show sport on their own ground, 

 but a liberal margin to stock all the 

 surrounding country, where foxes do not 

 perhaps lead such an easy life. To have 



