1504 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



MONGOLIAN PHEASANT 

 One of the group of game pheasants. 



LINEATED PHEASANT 

 A somber colored relative of the silver pheasant. 



not endure excessive dampness. Natural pro- 

 tection, in the way of growing shrubs, pampas 

 grass or piles of brush, add to the comfort of 

 the captives. Pheasants are strong fliers and it 

 is necessary that the top of the .run be wired 

 over or that the birds' wings be clipped. 



The food consists of sound grain, such as 

 wheat, kaffir corn, buckwheat, etc., with perhaps 

 a trace of cracked corn. A mash or other soft 

 mixture, such as Spratt's Patent game food, 

 may be used several times weekly. This is espe- 

 cially helpful during the laying and molting 

 seasons. If grass is not available, green food 

 must be supplied as often as possible, and fresh 

 water must be accessible at all times. 



Pheasant cocks are quarrelsome, especially 

 in the presence of hens, so it is customary to 

 keep the birds in pairs. Game pheasants will 

 breed successfully if three or four hens are kept 

 with each cock, but most species are monoga- 

 mous. Pheasants lay from April to June, the 

 number of eggs varying with the species. The 

 females ordinarily do not incitbate, this duty 

 being best intrusted to small domestic hens, 

 silkies, or bantams. 



The period of incubation runs from twenty- 

 one days for the Golden to twenty-five or 

 twenty-six for the Silver. The chicks are wild- 

 er than those of bantams, but the general care 

 is very similar. They are fed at first on hard 



MALAY FIREBACK 

 A delicate species requiring warmth in winter. 



IMPEVAN AND SILVER HYBRID 

 A striking but sterile hybrid. 



