152 A MONOGRAPH OF THE PHEASANTS 



destroyed. At Woburn, in Bedfordshire, where the species does well in the large fir 

 woods on sandy soil, it is a glorious sight to see them and other rare pheasants sunning 

 themselves in the woodland rides, and uttering their whistling scream of defiance. The 

 males are great fighters in spring. I watched a combat there one May morning for a 

 quarter of an hour, between two grand males with five-foot tails. It was a splendid 

 sight, as both rose six or eight feet as if by one impulse, and tried to strike downwards 

 with beak and spur. The curious part of the affair was that neither seemed to touch 

 his opponent, each avoiding the blow with all the arts of the skilled fencer. 



''To enjoy the surpassing beauty of this species the naturalist must see Reeves's 

 Pheasant in perfect freedom, and on ground similar to their natural habitat, and this 

 spectacle can be witnessed properly only, as far as I know, at Guisachan in Ross-shire, 

 formerly the seat of Lord Tweedmouth. To see a covey, for they often fly in a flock 

 together, rise above the highest trees on a steep mountain-side, and after uttering their 

 peculiar cry dash on at express speed, far greater than any other pheasants, is a sight 

 one can never forget. Until the year 1890 I had seen and shot several Reeves's 

 Pheasants, and under ordinary conditions of covert-shooting v/as content to consider 

 the bird hardly a success from the shooter's point of view. During the autumn of that 

 year, however, I received an invitation to the annual covert shoot at Guisachan, Lord 

 Tweedmouth's beautiful seat, near Beauly, in Ross-shire, and it was there, amidst the 

 wildest and shaggiest of Scotch scenery — in country which must to a great extent 

 resemble the true home of the bird in question — that I had cause to alter my 

 opinion. 



" In one high wood of old Scotch firs, on a steep and broken hillside above the 

 waterfall, the sight of these birds coming along only just within gunshot, in company 

 with common pheasants and blackcocks, I shall never forget. I say, 'in company with,' 

 but, as a matter of fact, as soon as one of the long-tailed skyrockets cleared the trees, he 

 left the others far behind, and came forward at a pace which was little short of terrific. 

 I doubt if any bird of the genus goes faster. 



" Now this is all that the sportsman wants. Here we have a bird of unrivalled 

 beauty, great hardihood, and unequalled pace, which practically fulfils all the conditions 

 which the modern shooter requires. The only other condition which is absolutely 

 essential to make the bird a success from this point of view, is its local environment. 

 In this respect Guisachan is not singular, and I could name a hundred localities in 

 Scotland, England and Wales, where Reeves's Pheasant would be certain to succeed. 



"The Guisachan birds were obtained by the late Lord Tweedmouth from 

 Balmacaan, Lord Seafield's estate near Loch Ness, where I have also seen them shot. 

 No artificial rearing was resorted to ; the birds were breeding in a wild state, and 

 shifting entirely for themselves, except for the maize which was put down for the 

 ordinary pheasants. At Balmacaan, where the birds were in low open woods, one may 

 see Reeves's Pheasants killed in the way in which they should not be. Here these birds 

 (as is the case when turned down on any ordinary English preserve) have formed most 

 undesirable habits. It is with great difficulty they can be got to rise at all, and when 

 this is effected they keep low, and afford no sport whatever. Now, at Guisachan all 

 this is obviated by the rough nature of the ground. There is heavy bracken, fallen trees, 

 mountain burns, and, above all, rough heather. These cause the birds to get up almost 



