6 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE PHHASANTS. 
a mirror reflecting the outer landscape. It is needless to say the bird was killed 
instantaneously. Two hen pheasants had on previous occasions heen killed in the 
same way, but the glass was not damaged.” Mr. G. A. Hackett, of Pailton House, 
Rugby, also wrote as follows: “I was much astonished to-day, at about two o'clock, 
by hearing a loud crash of glass in my smoking-room, and on going there I found 
a cock pheasant dead on the floor close to the window, and the plate of glass, 
which is 4ft. by 3ft. 6in., and jin. thick, in thousands of fragments. I am certain 
no blow from a man could have in like manner demolished the glass, of which I 
send you a piece. The pheasant was a ring-necked, last year’s bird, and weighed 
nearly 3lb.” These instances occurred in the day-time. Sometimes the birds are 
attracted by a light, as in the following cases: “ On a very rough night in January, 
a hen pheasant flew through the hall window at Merthyr Manor, Bridgend, attracted 
by a light inside.” And the following incident is related as occurring in a village 
not far from Bangor, on the banks of a river on the opposite side of which is a 
plantation well stocked with pheasants: “One stormy night there sat in a room of _ 
a small public, which had a window facing the plantation, six or seven men enjoying 
their pipes and beer, when all of a sudden crash went the window, out went the 
candle, and out rushed the men in great consternation. On examining the room a 
splendid cock pheasant was found under the table.” 
The wings, considered with reference to the size and weight of the bird, are 
short and small; from the secondary quills being nearly as long as the primary, 
they are very rounded in form, the third and fourth primary feathers being the 
longest. The wings are not adapted to a very prolonged flight, although the 
denizens of the wilder districts in the country fly with a speed and cover a distance 
that are alike unknown to the over-fattened birds in our preserves. Long flights 
are, however, not altogether beyond the powers of the bird. One of unusual length 
was recorded by Mr. J. Cordeaux, of Great Cotes, Ulceby, who states that “when 
shooting in the marshes on the Lincolnshire side of the Humber, near Grimsby, 
a man who works on the sea embankment came to say that two pheasants had just 
flown over from the Yorkshire side, alighting within a few feet of where he was 
working among the rough grass on the bank. On going to the spot indicated, I at 
once found and shot them; they were ‘both hens, and in very good condition. The 
Humber at this place from shore to shore is nearly four miles across. There was a 
strong northerly breeze blowing at the time, so that they would cross before the 
wind, or with the wind a little aslant. I have occasionally found pheasants in the 
marshes, and near the embankment, which I was sure must have come across, but 
had no direct evidence of the fact.” 
The comparatively small size of the wings necessitates their being moved 
with great force and velocity, and consequently the moving powers or muscles of 
the breast are very large and well developed, taking their origin from the deep 
