116 A GAMEKEEPER'S NOTE-BOOK 



prospects of their hope of a covey a hedgehog, 

 rooks, inquisitive children, but, luckily, not a fox. 

 The fifth season found the persevering birds trying 

 again ; their nest contained seventeen eggs. The 

 site was an obvious one, but now the birds' luck 

 turned. Just when it seemed that nothing could 

 keep the nest from the eyes of any curious passers-by, 

 a fine plant of hemlock sprang up to provide a screen 

 and shelter. Every egg was then hatched, and .every 

 chick was reared to the flying stage. True, by Sep- 

 tember the young birds had been reduced until only 

 nine were left. But as the keeper said, that was 

 better than that a fox should have killed the old 

 hen on her nest ; and a family of nine was very 

 creditable to a pair of five-year-old birds. 



Your gamekeeper is a skilled cook, and his open-air 

 kitchen is a place of curious interest. For the first 



five or six weeks of their lives young pheasants 

 The Hut ar e regaled several times daily with meals 

 Woods f hard-boiled eggs, custard, biscuit-meal, 



oatmeal, canary-seed, greaves and rice 

 seasoned with spices. Look into the keeper's hut 

 in the woods, and you will see quite a collection 

 of sacks filled with choice foods cracked maize, 

 dari-seed, groats, rice, preparations of dried meat, 

 and finely dressed meals of wheat and barley. When 

 the birds have learned to go to roost only one meal 



