40 PHEASANTS FOB COVERTS AND AVIABIES. 



in a wild state, and yet remain so fearless as to come and 

 feed from the hand ; and it would be difficult to imagine any- 

 more gorgeous ornament to a country house than would be 

 afforded by these birds. 



Nevertheless, there is a much more beautiful bird than 

 even the golden pheasant, and that is the cross between it and 

 the Amherst pheasant {T. amherstioe). This is not a sterile 

 hybrid, but is perfectly fertile, either inter se, or with either 

 of the parent races. For breeding in the open, it would be 

 found hardier than either of the pure breeds from which it 

 is descended, and, as it is larger than the golden pheasant, 

 would make a better bird for the table, should anyone think 

 of killing and eating an object of such surpassing beauty. 



In the Eastern States the pheasants are in certain localities 

 doing very well; as many as a thousand birds have been 

 reared and turned out by a single keeper, and the pheasant 

 is generally regarded as the future game bird of the country, 

 as it can stand not only the severe heat of summer, but the 

 cold and blizzards of the winter. A number of game clubs 

 have been formed for their protection, and large numbers are 

 raised m the Long Island preserves. They are also extending 

 in several parts of New Jersey, New York, and Yermont. 

 The Game Commissioners of Ohio are encouraging their 

 breeding, and, to quote the words of the Boston Herald, " the 

 outlook for the handsomest and most delicious game bird in 

 the world is quite rosy in this country." 



In Nova Scotia the pheasant was introduced twenty years 

 ago by Professor Butler, and at once bred freely and flourished 

 in the open, despite of the winter cold of the climate. 



In the countries nearest to the locality from whence the 

 common pheasant is supposed to have been derived, it is 

 not, strange to say, abundant ; thus Canon Tristram 

 informs us that it does not appear to be known in Syria. In 

 Greece, the Hon. T. L. Powys, writing in The Ibis, informs 

 US that " The only localities in which I have seen pheasants 

 in these parts were once on the Luro river, near Prevesa, in 



