208 PHEASANTS FOB COVERTS AND AVIABIES. 



" In rearing the young I found that the very best food for 

 them, and of which they were most fond, was the larvae of 

 the bluebottle fly, with a quantity of which I always was 

 prepared prior to the young being hatched. I took care to- 

 have a constant supply during the season by hanging a cow's 

 liver over a barrel, in the bottom of which was some bran or 

 sawdust, into which the maggots dropped. A fresh liver was 

 hung up about once a week. In addition to these larvse, the 

 young were supplied with potatoes, alum curd*, groats, and 

 Indian corn meal ; this last I found they were very fond of,, 

 and it seemed to agree with them particularly well. It was 

 mixed into the form of soft dough with a little water, which 

 was all that was required. They were also constantly supplied 

 with green food, such as lettuce, when they were in the 

 aviary. But the best way is to have a coop, railed in front, 

 into which they are put with the hen twenty-four hours after 

 they are hatched. This coop should be placed upon a gravel 

 walk as near to the' windows of the house as possible, so that 

 they may always be within observation; a small verdure 

 garden is the best possible locality, as the young have plenty 

 of range, with shelter under the bushes from both sun aud 

 rain. In the instance which I have already alluded to, the 

 hen was allowed to range .about six feet from the coop, by 

 means of a small cord attached to a leather strap round one 

 of her legs, and the other end tied to the coop : the young 

 pheasants never wandered far from the hen, and always came 

 into the coop to remain with her at night. In front of each 

 coop a small frame was put down, boxed round on three sides, 

 without a bottom, and railed at top ; the open side was put 

 close to the coop, and the young birds could run through the 

 rails of the coop into the inclosed space, and were safe from 

 the night attacks of cats, rats, &c. This frame was always 

 kept before the coops for the first few days after the young 



* Custard prepared as described at page 117 will be found far superior 

 to curd. 



