68 MANAGEMENT OF PHEASANTS IN CONFINEMENT. 
select a dry spot, sheltered from the rains as much as possible. Sometimes they will 
carry dry leaves, soft, short straw, hay, and feathers; at other times the nest is 
made in a hollow at the root of a tree, and the eggs are laid on the loose mould; or 
under thick bushes, and covered with coarse grass: but in every case the nest is 
never stifled, having the freest circulation of air surrounding it. If such natural 
precautions alone are used, greater success may be looked for at home than when 
the nests are made up in quiet, warm, small places, where the birds have but little 
room to move, and the eggs get nothing but a fetid atmosphere to destroy the life 
that lies beneath the shell. The term of incubation of pheasants’ eggs varies con- 
siderably. I have hatched them at home at all times from twenty-two to twenty- 
seven days, but in the woods they invariably turn out about the twenty-fourth day. 
Those which hatch at the most natural time of twenty-four days turn out to be the 
finest and healthiest birds. There is some care required in marking the dates and 
number of eggs set in each nest for hatching, as by alittle forethought in this 
respect, great advantages may be obtained by saving time, and retaining the services 
of the sitting hen. Over each nest the date should be distinctly pencilled, thus .4, 
which means fourteen eggs were set on the 16th of April, 1881. About the ninth 
day the eggs should be examined, and all those which appear perfectly clear, as | 
when first set, should be laid on one side as useless for hatching, but as perfectly 
good for feeding the poults.” 
This examination of the eggs after they have been sat on for a few days is 
exceedingly desirable, as those that are unfertilised may be removed, when they serve 
as food for the poults, and leave more room for such as contain live birds. 
Many instruments dignified by the title of ovascopes and egg-testers have 
been devised for this purpose, some with lenses, others with reflectors, &c. I have tried 
the whole of them, and find them far inferior to the following simple contrivance :— 
To test the eggs take a piece of stout dark coloured pasteboard (the loose cover of 
a large book answers very well); in the centre of this cut an oval hole, the shape 
of a pheasant’s egg, but a little smaller to prevent the egg passing through; the 
margin of the hole should be evenly cut, so that the egg when placed against it 
fits closely. The appearance of the board and hole is shown in the diagram. This 
simple contrivance, with a paraffin or other bright lamp with a glass 
chimney, is all that is requisite. To examine the eggs, take them 
0 from under the hen on the eighth or ninth day, and, if during day- 
time, go into a room perfectly darkened, except as regards the light 
from the one lamp, hold the perforated board near to the glass chimney so as to 
bring the opening opposite the light, then place the egg to be examined in the 
opening. If it is not fertilised, it will permit the light to be partially seen through 
it in the same manner as a perfectly fresh egg. It is “clear,” and should be 
reserved to furnish food for the poults when hatched. On the other hand, the 
