PHEASANTS FOE COVE UTS AXD AVIARIES. 



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.iiiitlis of tlie N'ear. Ainuiio'st forest phiiits, it likes tlie seeds 

 of the lK>ui|"]-iiettle {(JuIrop.siN) , and it also feeds ou altiiost all 

 the seeds that the fanner sows." 



To this loiio- catalogue of its continental fare may be 

 adiled the ro(jts of the sih'er weed {Potrutillu (m.-^rriua) , and 

 those of the pig-nut or eartli-nut [Bmiinm jli'i'iuiyinii), and the 

 lubers of the common buttercups {Ra miucnJu.s IiuUkisu.s and 

 /i'. //rio'/if), wliich are often scratched out of the soil and eaten. 

 Macgillivray states that " (Jue of the nKjst remarkable facts 

 relative to this bird that lias come under my oliservation, wa 

 the presence of a veiy large rpiantit}' of the fronds of tlie 

 common ])olypodv {PdIiijiihIiimii vnlqui-f) in the crop of one 

 which 1 opened in the winter of lyoTj. i a,m not aware that 

 any s])ecies of fern has e\'er bei'n found coustitnting part of 

 the food of ii ruuiinating (piadruped or gallinaceous bii-d ; and 

 if it should lie found Ijy expei'imeut that the pheasant 

 thrives on such substances, advantage might lie taken of the 

 circumstance." 



Thompson in his " Natural Histoi'y of Ireland " recounts 

 flie different varieties of food he oljserved in opening the 

 crijps of ten plieasants — fr(jm Noveudx'r to April inclusive. 

 In seven he discovered the fruit of the hawthorn, with gram, 

 small .seeds, and pea.s. In one no less tlian thirty-seven 

 acorns. Another had its cr(j]) nearly tilled ^vith grass ; onlv 

 one contained any insects, the period of examination being 

 the colder months of the year ; in summer the pheasant is 

 decidiMlly insectivorous; all contained numerous fragments 

 of stone. He also records that in the spiing the yellow 

 flowers of the [)ilewort (7i'(nn()(r((/((.s- jlcnrui) are always eaten 

 in large ipiantity, as are the tuberous roots of the common 

 silver weed {Pntnitilhi. ini.srruiK), when they are turned up bv 

 cultivation. Mr. Thompson adds: "While spending the 

 month of January, l.Sf',), at the sporting quarters of 

 Ardimei'sy Cottage, Island of Islay, wdiere pluvasants are 

 abundant, and attain a very large size — the ring-necked 

 vai-iety, too, being common — I observed that these birds, m 



