176 PHEASANTS FOB COVERTS AND AVIARIES. 



thickly studded with small meat hooks ; 20in. below this 

 were placed hopper-shaped boxes, ISin. square at the top, 

 12in. at bottom, and 7ini. deep, the bottom covered with ^in. 

 mesh wire cloth. Below these were arranged tight drawers 

 18in. square and 4in. deep, around the tops of which were 

 nailed strips of tin projecting inward about fin. to prevent 

 the maggots crawling oiit. 



" After many experiments it was found that sheep plucks 

 were the cheapest and most available material for the purpose, 

 thirty-six plucks a week producing enough food for about 

 200 young pheasants. Three times a week from six to twelve 

 plucks were spread in the morning on a hurdle covered with 

 lin. mesh wire cloth, and set out of doors, and by night were 

 fully blown, when they were taken into the house and hung 

 on the hooks. Seven plucks will produce from four to seven 

 quarts of maggots. The» hopper boxes were about half filled 

 with a mixture of wheat bran and ground beef scraps (one 

 quart of scraps to six of bran), thoroughly mixed and 

 moistened with water. In about twenty-four hours (depending 

 somewhat upon the temperature) the maggots drop into the 

 bran, where they find additional food and then drop into the 

 drawers below. They are not in condition to use until the 

 fourth or fifth day after the meat is blown, but if not then 

 placed in a cool place will change to the chrysalid state, unfit 

 for the chicks, in a few hours. By placing them in a 

 refrigerator as soon as fully grown, where the temperature 

 does not exceed 45°, further development is arrested, and 

 they may be kept for several weeks. 



" All this may not seem very enticing work, but it is a 

 necessity, as this or some equivalent must be used for food to 

 insure success in raising Mongolian pheasants. The chicks 

 are so small and tender for the first two or three weeks that 

 all efforts to raise them on the food recommended for the 

 English pheasants end more or less in disappointment. When 

 fed on maggots the loss ivova. disease was slight, but a 

 considerable number were lost by accidents. When the young 



