ORDER GALLING. 231 



this respect exposes the young pheasants to a malady very 

 common with chickens, called the pip. 



As the object of this domestic education of game is to 

 repeople the woods, as soon as it is finished the young birds 

 should be dismissed from their enclosures, and set free on the 

 estate at large. This may be done when they are about two 

 months and a half old ; but their nurse should be allowed to 

 go with them, to teach them the means of procuring their 

 own subsistence. 



The Variegated Pheasant is but an accidental variety, 

 which differs in plumage from the common sort. This may 

 be owing to some alteration in the juices which minister to 

 the development of the feathers. White is the predominant 

 colour, marked in various parts with the other hues of the 

 plumage of the common pheasant. 



It generally happens that all the birds with this whitish, 

 or entirely white, livery are diseased individuals. Frisch has 

 observed that the variegated pheasant is not so well adapted 

 for propagation. 



These singular variations, or degradations, in the plumage 

 of the pheasant, may also be attributed to domestication. 

 Examples of this kind are rare among the wild pheasants, 

 nor are they ever very much multiplied among the domes- 

 ticated. 



It is said by gamekeepers, that individuals with this white 

 livery preserve it only for a few years, and then resume the 

 brilliant colours peculiar to the species. If this be true, it 

 proves that the variation in question is owing to some vice in 

 the constitution. It is very certain that similar changes take 

 place in many species of birds. Instances have been known 

 of sparrows, of finches, of larks, and even of goelands, which 

 were white, or whitish, at first, and after a few moultings 

 recovered their natural plumage. 



It is possible that extreme age may cause this degrada- 



