PHEASANTS 87 



reserved to provide green food for the inmates. The top 

 must be covered, of course, for pheasants are strong fliers 

 and it is best not to cHp their wings if propagation is de- 

 sired. Care must be taken not to alarm the birds, especially 

 at night, for they are exceedingly nervous and are apt to 

 dart upward, only to wound themselves severely against the 

 netting at the top of their aviary. For this reason, it is far 

 safer to stretch a twine net about a foot below the wire, thus 

 saving the pheasants from possibility of injury. 



The staple food of the adults should consist of the best 

 of grain : wheat, buckwheat, barley, kaflir corn and a very 

 little cracked corn. It may be noted, at this point, that 

 Indian corn, doubtless because of its cheapness, is a staple 

 food in this country. For generations farmers have used it 

 for their poultry with apparent success, and the keepers of 

 more delicate birds have very naturally adopted it. There 

 can be no doubt that for sensitive species in confinement, 

 unless very carefully handled, it is a pernicious article of 

 diet. Its constant and unlimited use leads to the accumula- 

 tion of unhealthy fat, and to enlarged livers, than which 

 there can be no greater evil. Birds on free range, and even 

 those more restricted, during the winter months, may endure 

 or even benefit by a certain amount of this food, but its 

 dangerous tendencies should be borne in mind when a feed- 

 ing system is being devised. 



Breeding 



During the laying season, and just before it, the birds 



I may have a mash composed of one of the numerous pheas- 

 ant meals advertised, mixed with fine alfalfa meal and a 

 small quantity of crissel or meat scrap. The whole mass 

 should be dampened with scalding water sufficient to make 



