140 PHEASANTS 



sanctuary to straying game and wild-bred 

 pheasants. 



Sunny and well watered by spring or 

 running stream, each covert would be 

 planned to enhance the advantages of the 

 natural rise and fall of the ground. 

 Leading upwards from the main covert 

 below, a strip should follow the curve of 

 that rising knoll, through which the birds 

 may be easily guided into the thick-set 

 clump that shall mark its summit, whence 

 they shall presently turn homewards in 

 twos and threes, soaring high over the 

 line of guns below. 



So much for his disposition of the 

 woods, and now for their interior economy. 

 Time cannot fail to enter largely into his 

 calculations ; he cannot afford to wait the 

 leisure of slow growing forest trees ; if he 

 plant covert for his game, it must needs 

 serve his purpose in the near future, so 

 his thoughts naturally turn to trees of 

 rapid growth not always the best pro- 

 ducers of timber. Seeking protection 

 from cold, wet, and wind, his coverts shall 



