FORMATION. OF PENS AND AVIARIES. 55 
freshly-cut turves, with abundance of young grass and plenty of clover, should be 
furnished daily. 
Instead of placing a cock and three to five hens in a pen, as recommended, 
some persons advocate putting cut-winged hens only in enclosures open at the 
top, so that they may be visited by the wild males. Of necessity, this method 
‘can only be followed in the immediate vicinity of coverts well stocked with 
pheasants, and even under these conditions it is not always successful, the eggs 
frequently not being fertilized. “It is sometimes recommended to put pheasant hens 
‘into small enclosures open at the top, so that the wild cocks might get to them. I 
suppose generally that plan is successful, but in my own case it has failed entirely. 
I had plenty of eggs, but no chickens. My keeper gathered the eggs regularly and 
carefully, and they were duly set under common hens; but not one single egg came 
off. I know the wild cocks came close to the enclosure, but I never actually found 
one inside. I followed Baily’s instructions implicitly; my own impression was, I 
must say, that the wild cocks had not visited the hens.” 1 
On the other hand, a second authority states :—“ On an estate with which I 
am well acquainted, the whole of the young birds, some 400, were reared from 
eges produced by hens whose mates were wild birds. The pheasantry was 
‘constructed with an open top, and the wild cock birds regularly visited it. The 
‘tameness of these birds was remarkable, and I have frequently seen six or eight 
-cock birds walking fearlessly about within a few yards of me whilst inspecting the 
‘birds. As an instance of the audacity of the wild bird, I may mention that a few 
‘years ago I kept five hen pheasants and one cock in a temporary covered pheasantry, 
the lower part being covered up to the height of two or three feet, and the upper 
part being constructed of wire stretched on poles. I noticed shortly after the birds 
had been put in that the wire was bulged inwards in several places, and could 
not imagine how it had been done. On watching, however, I found a wild cock 
pheasant was in the habit of regularly fighting with the confined male bird by 
flying up against the wire, the bird inside being by no means loath to accept the 
challenge. One morning, however, the wild bird was found inside, a nail having 
given way in one of his flights against the wire netting, being the cause of his 
unexpected capture. When discovered he had nearly killed the imprisoned cock 
bird, who was removed, and his adversary substituted. I may remark that those 
who have tried breeding from wild cock birds will hardly, I fancy, return to the 
old system of keeping the cocks in confinement, as I have found that the birds 
bred from wild cocks are invariably stronger, and consequently easier to rear than 
those bred in the ordinary way.” 
There is no absolute necessity, however, for having recourse to the use 
of open pens, as the eggs of cut-winged birds, kept in pheasantries of sufficient 
size, well fed, with a good variety of fresh vegetable food, and supplied daily with 
