STRUCTURE, FOOD. AND HABITS. 1;; 



w;u-in boxes noar a good tire, tliey nil eventually recovered. 

 The day was cold and frosty, and there was a slight log (ju 

 the water." When winged and dropped into tlie watei-, 

 pheasants swim with facility, and some instances are on record 

 of their diving beneath the surface and rising at some 

 distance. 



As the breeding season approaches, the crow of the male, 

 resembling the imperfect attempts of a ynung fowl, may be, 

 heard distinctly. It is foll(jwed, and not preceded as in the 

 game cock, l)y the clap])iug of the wings; the pheasant and 

 the domestic cock invariably re\'crsing the order nf tlie 

 succession of these two actions. Like the domestic fowl, 

 pheasants will also auswei' aJiy loud noise, occurring either l)y 

 dnv or night; they have been noticed replying reg'ularh' to 

 the signal gun at .Shornchffe, Avhirli is fired at suni'ise and 

 sunset, and this in coverts situated some miles di.staiit ; and tlie 

 ]iractice with the heavy guns at the various mibtary stations 

 will often ca.use a chorus (jf " cucketing " in all the coverts 

 for a great distance round. 



The display of the plumage during courtship by the males 

 varies in almost c\ury species of gallinaceous birds. I'hat of 

 the pheasant was carefully described by the late Mr. T. \Y . 

 Wood, in an interesting article on the " Courtship of lairds." 

 Pheasants seem to possess no other mode of display than the 

 lateral or one-sided method. In this the males disport them- 

 selves so as to exhibit to the females a greater number of 

 their beautiful feathers than could otherwise be seen at (.)ue 

 view. The peculiar attitude assumed by the male of the 

 common species is correctly shown in the vignette on page 45 

 at the end of C'hapter II. ; the wing tA the side nearest the 

 female is partly opened and depressed, precisely in the same 

 manner as performed l)y the male ot the common fowl, and, 

 m addition, the tail is expanded, and the upper surface 

 turned towards the same side, whilst the bright vermilion skin 

 around the eve is greatly extendi'd, and the little purple 

 aio-rettes erected. Singular modifications of this sexual 



