THE COMMON PHEASANT. 253 



OF THE PHEASANT TEIBE IN GENEJIAL. 



TifE characters of the present tribe are a short, convex, and strong 

 hill ; the bead more or less covered with carunculated bare flesh on 

 the sides, wlrich in some species is continued upwards to the crown, 

 si ml beneath so as to hang pendent under each jaw ; *nd the legs in 

 most of the species are furnished with spurs. 



The females of this tribe produce many young-ones at a brood: 

 these they take care of for some time, leading them abroad, and point- 

 ing out food for them. The nests of the whole tribe are formed on 

 the ground. 



THE COMMON PHEASANT. 



This beautiful bird is very common in almost all the southern parts 

 of the Old Continent, whence it was originally imported into our 

 country. 



Pheasants are much attached to the shelter of thickets and 

 woods, where the grass is long; but, like Partridges, they likewise 

 breed in clover-fields. They form their nests oh the ground : and 

 the females lay from twelve to fifteen 'eggs, which are smaller than 

 those of the domestic hen. In the mowing of clover near woods that 

 are frequented by Pheasants, the destruction of their eggs is some- 

 times very great. In some places, therefore, game-keepers have direc- 

 tions to hunt the birds from these fields as soon as they begin to lay, 

 until their haunt is broken, and they retire into the corn. Poultry 

 liens are often kept ready for sitting on any e^rgs that may be ex- 

 posed by the scythe; and, with care, great numbers are thus rescued 

 from destruction. The nest of the Pheasant is usually composed of 

 a few dry vegetables put carelessly together, and the young- ones fol- 

 low their mother, like chickens, as soon as they break the shell. The 

 parents and their brood, if undisturbed, remain in the stubbles and 

 hedgerows, for some time after the corn is ripe. If disturbed, they 

 seek the woods, and only issue thence in the mornings and evenings 

 to feed among the stubbles. These birds are fond of corn; but can 

 procure a subsistence without it; since they often feed on the wild 

 berries of the woods, and on acorns. 



In confinement the female Pheasant neither lays so many eggs, nor 

 hatches nor rears her brood with as much cure and vigilance, as in the 

 tL-lds out of the immediate observation of man. Indeed, in the busi- 

 ness both of incubation and rearing the young-ones, the domestio 

 Lien is generally made a substitute for the lien Pheasant. 



The wings of these birds are short, and ill-adapted for considerable 

 Rights. On this account, the Pheasants on the island called Jsola 

 A/adre in the Layo Mayijoire at Turin, as they cannot fly over the 

 lake, are imprisoned. When they attempt to cross, they are almost 

 always drowned. The Pheasant is a stupid bird. On being roused 

 it will often perch on a neighbouring tree, where its attention will be 



