﻿Beneficial to Agriculture. 7 



retained its purity until the introduction of the Chinese Eing- 

 necked Pheasant (P. torquatus) about the end of the eighteenth 

 century, and later by the importation of the Japanese pheasant 

 (P. versicolor), both of which freely interbred with P. colchicus, so 

 that probably at the present time true examples of the latter are 

 not to be found in any part of the British Islands. ' 



The Pheasant is an omnivorous feeder ; its chief food consists 

 of insects of all kinds, seeds, grain, berries, beech-mast, acorns, 

 herbage, slugs and small snails ; also at times it devours mice and 

 reptiles. Owing to the enormous numbers of injurious insects, as 

 well as the seeds of noxious plants eaten by this bird, it is of great 

 value to agriculture. As many as 1200 wire- worms — larvae of the 

 click-beetle — have been found in the crop of a single pheasant ; 

 and 440 leather-jackets — larvae of the daddy-long-legs or crane-fly 

 — from another, both species being among the worst pests the 

 farmer has to deal with. Many other instances of a similar nature 

 have been noted. On different occasions adders have been found 

 in pheasants' crops ; as many as eight young ones were taken from 

 the crop of one bird. 



During March the crowing of the cock birds may be heard, 

 when they fight for possession of the hens ; and nesting begins in 

 April. The nest is usually placed under brambles, bracken, or 

 other shelter in woods, thickets, or amongst dense growth under 

 hedgerows. It is slightly constructed, being a mere hollow in the 

 ground, sparsely lined with a few leaves and grasses. The eggs 

 number from ten to fourteen, are of an olive-brown colour, 

 sometimes of a pale greenish-blue. When a large number of 

 eggs occur in the same nest, they are probably the produce of 

 two birds. 



The adult male of the old English Pheasant may be dis- 

 tinguished by the absence of a white ring round the neck, the 

 uniformly liver-coloured rump, and the belly of a brownish-black 

 tinge slightly glossed with green. 



COMMON PARTRIDGE. 



Perdix perdix. 



The Common or Grey Partridge is so well known throughout 

 the British Islands as to need only a few remarks. It is most 

 abundant where the land is extensively cultivated, especially in 



