CHAPTER V. 



MANAGEMENT OF PHEASANTS IN PRESERVES 



(CONTINUED). 



REAEING AND PROTECTION. 



I ITH regard to the rearing of pheasants in preserves- 

 but little need be said ; tlie less they are interfered 

 with the better. No good can possibly come from 

 disturbing the sitting hens, but, on the other hand, a 

 great amount of mischief may accrue. When leaving 

 the nest quietly in order to seek food, the hen does so 

 in such a manner as not to attract the attention of the 

 numerous enemies, as crows, magpies, jays, &c., that are on. 

 the watch to discover and devour her eggs ; but driven off by 

 the prying intrusion of a visitor, she departs without caution, 

 and makes known the situation of her concealed nest. The 

 only circumstance warranting any interference with the nests 

 of the wild birds is the occurrence of a greater number of 

 eggs than the parent hen is capable of rearing as young 

 birds, should the whole of them be hatched. A hen pheasanti 

 is rarely seen with more than six or seven young, at least 

 when they have arrived at any size ; and as she not 

 unfrequently lays a larger number of eggs, it is an advan- 

 tageous plan to remove all beyond eight or nine for the 

 purpose of hatching them under common farmyard hens. 

 Mr. J. Baily, in his "Pheasants and Pheasantries," says. 

 that if " a keeper knows of forty nests, seven eggs may 

 be. safely spared from each ; this will give two hundred 



