THE OOLOGIST. 



133 



tiacts from letters to the Chief of Div- 

 ision of Ornithology Department of Ag- 

 riculture will show the views usually 

 held of him by the agriculturalist. 



Mr. Asher Tyler, in his letter of Jau , 

 1889 says of him. * * "Having spread 

 vei'y rapidly and increased wonderfully. 

 The female produces from fifteen to 

 eighteen eggs at each litter and hatch 

 them all. Some of them lay two litters 

 a year. The old ones have lots of 

 nerve, will fight a Hawk, as anything 

 that comes near them. The cocks will 

 go in a barnyard and whip the best 

 barnyard fowls we have and run things 

 according to their own notion. They 

 are very harJy and stand our winters 

 . well. 



"Their favorite haunts are low 

 grounds near fields of grain in which 

 they depredate. The}'- are very des- 

 tructive to gardens as well. Great com- 

 plaints are made against them." 



Mr. R. S. Barr writes: "They are 

 very destructive birds, both to grain 

 and small fruits. When not disturbed 

 he often comes in the chicken yard and 

 fights with the chickens. There is a 

 law to protect him, here, but it is gen- 

 erally discarded by the people.'' 



Hon. T. T. Geer writing to the Ore- 

 gonian published at Portland, Oi'egon, 

 of date of Jan. 29, 1889 says: "In the 

 matter of multiplying they seem to re- 

 gard themselves as having been spec- 

 ially included in the original biblical 

 injunction, and are striving in season 

 and out of season, for first money. 



* * As a farmer however, I not 

 only have no objection to them, but 

 I'ather admire them." 



In my own letter of Jan. 22, 1889 to 

 the Chief of Ornithology Department of 

 Agriculture I have said of this Pheas- 

 ant. " They, ai'e more a bird of open 

 ground than the native Pheasant. They 

 seek w^oods and brush for shelter when 

 flushed, but will not "tree" for a dog. 

 They usually make a loud cackling 

 noise when flushed. They lie close and 



run and hide with remarkable dexter- 

 ity, and are a hard bird to get. 



"This Pheasant is well adapted to 

 take care of himself; is increasing fast, 

 and has come to stay. 



"He is a vigorous fighter, and there 

 are many reports of his going through 

 the farmer's roosters. Cases are re- 

 ported of his crossing with the domes- 

 tic hens (?). He is destructive in gar- 

 dens, berries* and small fruits. * * 

 He is voted a nuisance by many farm- 

 ers and I am afraid his introduction 

 will prove a calamity to the country, 

 whatever it may be for the sportsman. 

 "He is pretty good eating, about like 

 our native pheasant, but I am inclined 

 to regard him as a gaudily painted de- 

 ception and a fraud. * * He 'roosts' 

 on the ground, hiding among gi'ass, 

 weeds, or other cover. The hen lays 

 on the ground, from twelve to eighteen 

 eggs at a clutch; raises two and some- 

 times three broods in a season. 



"The male crows, something like a 

 young domestic rooster just learning 

 the art, and flaps, or rather flutters his 

 wings afterward." 



And in my letter of Mar. 7, 1890 to 

 the Pacific Rural Press of San Francis- 

 co, Cal., in answer to inquiry: 



"This Jap. is hardy, vigorous, and 

 remarkably well calculated to take care 

 of himself. He is an expert at running 

 and hiding; is impudent and profane. 

 He will sit behind the fence a hundred 

 steps from where I am working in my 

 berryground and yell, 'You daren't 

 shoot,' and flutter his wings in the most 

 insulting manner. If approached he 

 runs off rapidly, dodging behind, every 

 sort of cover, and when pressed gets up 

 suddenly and flies straight away crying 

 out rapidly and loudly, "Shoot! shoot! 

 shoot and be d — d; shoot and be d — d." 

 In spring the males quarrel and 

 swear at each other long distances 

 apart, getting nearer and nearer and 

 eventually having a pitched battle. In. 

 the interests of piety and morality of 



