88 | -. THE DISEASES OF PHEASANTS. 
over and died. I directed the keeper to have one opened, and its crop was full 
of the bloom which falls from the fir tree, a specimen of which I inclose. The 
birds were immediately moved under young oak trees, and not a single bird has 
failed since.’? The substances inclosed that had been taken from the crop of the 
young pheasants were the male or false blossoms of some species of fir. These 
blossoms consist of anthers only, and fall off when they have shed the pollen or 
fine dust they contain. I regret that I was unable to ascertain the particular 
species of fir under which the birds were placed. 
Another frequently unsuspected cause of death in pheasants is the habit they 
acquire of picking up and swallowing shot when in coverts that are much shot 
over. Mr. J. Hindle Calvert, F.C.S., made the following valuable communication 
to the Field in 1876, and his inferences have been since amply confirmed by 
myself and others who have made post-mortem examinations in similar cases. Mr. 
Calvert wrote :—“ The- following cases of lead poisoning in pheasants may be of 
interest to those who have large pheasant preserves. A gamekeeper brought me 
for inspection a hen pheasant which was partially paralysed in the legs, and low 
in condition. On killing the same and opening the gizzard I found thirteen 
leaden pellets of various sizes; the grinding action of the gizzard had disseminated 
the lead with the food, and the bird was surely but safely undergoing the slow 
process of lead-poisoning. This was very evident on applying the usual chemical 
tests, as I readily detected lead dissolved in the food, and also traces in the blood 
taken from the region of the heart. Two days after this the gamekeeper brought 
another live bird. This one had been in a sickly condition for two or three weeks, 
and was quite emaciated. The legs were paralysed, and the feet drawn in a similar 
manner to the drop-hand, when lead has been the cause of poisoning in the 
human subject. On opening the gizzard I found four pellets, so that there is little 
doubt that this bird would soon have died from the effects of lead-poisoning. 
“T understand last year some score of pheasants died in the same preserve, 
all of them showing symptoms same as above related. Both years the poisoning 
happened after the coverts had been shot through. No doubt the birds pick up 
the pellets under the delusion of being either food or grains of sand; perhaps the 
latter. When the birds died last year the cause of death was attributed to there © 
being too many left for breeding purposes; rather a strange reason, seeing that the 
birds had been decimated on the shooting day. 
“Others may have experienced something similar to the above, without being 
able to give a satisfactory reason for the birds dying; but where you have paralysed 
limbs and a gradual falling off in condition, and should this happen some weeks 
after the covert has been shot through, then they may suspect that lead-poisoning 
is a probable cause.” 
—— 2 2 YF IS  ——_- 
