1^ PHEASANTS FOE COVERTS AND AVI ABIES. 



Though seldom taking voluntarily to the water, the 

 ])heasaut is quite capable of swimining, as is ])roved by the 

 following instances. A well-known game jjreserver writes : 

 " ^Vhen out walking to-day with my keeper, near the end of a 

 hjng pond adjacent to one of my woods, we fancied that 

 we heard some yonng pheasants calling in the higli grass. 

 On giiing up to the place where we had heard the noise, an 

 old hen pheasant got up and flew over the pond, which is 

 about eisJ-hteen or nineteen feet wide at this place and aljout 

 Four feet deep. To our a,stonis]nnent one of the young birds 

 ran down to the water, went into it, and swam safely to the 

 (jther side aftei- its mother. The young birds could not have 

 been more than fourteen days old." Old birds will also 

 voluntarily swim across rivers, as in the following instance : 

 " While flogging the waters of the Usk, 1 saw a sight that 

 struck me with astonisliuient. A fine cock pheasant was 

 walking about on the bank of the river, here quite thirty 

 vards broad and running at the rate of four knots an hour. 

 ( )n our a])]:)roach he ipiietly took to the water like a duck, and, 

 alter floating ihiwu stream a few yards, lixjldlv struck across, 

 and, swimiumg high and with great ease, re.iched the bank 

 neaa'ly opp(jsit(! to the s])ot whence he set oat." And other 



similar cases are on veconi, thu' ]\[r. Domdd Campl)ell, of 



iJunstaffijrage, Oban, states : ''Six pheasants, tive cocks and 

 a hen, attempted to lly across Jjoch Ktive fr(jm one of the 

 Ardchatta,u coverts on the north side? of the loch, wdiicli near 

 that s])ot varies from half a mile to a mile in width. ^Vhen 

 about half-^vay across one uf them was seen either to fall or 

 alight on the water, and its (.■xam[)le was innneibately followed 

 by the other h\'e. J^'ortunately, the son of the Ardehattaii 

 ga.mekeeper, ^vho was in a. fioa-t on the loch at the time, 

 observed the uecurrenee, and rowed to the spot ; Imt as he had 

 some distance to go, by the time he reached the birds tliev 

 were very much exhausted and half drowned, and were drift- 

 ing helplessly with the tide. He L;ot them iiilo the boat and 

 took them a'-liore, and, after beiuu' well dried and placed in 



