ly PHJiA,SAM\S FOR COVERTS AND AVIARIES. 



tlio bird u'oeK ou und off." Other iiistances are recorded of 

 nests in a th(jrn tree lift, from the ground, in a straw stack 

 lUft. high, and in an oak tree at a lieight of 21ft. 



Althougli as a rule the male pheasant takes no ht'ed of the 

 eggs laid by the fenjale, or of the offspring when hatched, 

 there are s(jme well ascertained exce])tiong. Wild cock 

 ]iheasants have been seen sitting m nests in the coverts by 

 ]ierfectly cri'dible witnesses; and, although it has been 

 suggested that the birds might have been hens that had 

 assumed the male jilumage, such an occurrence is even more 

 unlikely than that a cock should sit, for these hens are always 

 ])erfectly bari'eu, and must liaA'e assumed the male plumage 

 at tlie jn'evious autumnal moult; in this cimdition thev have 

 never been kuown to manifest the slightest desire to incubate. 

 Cocks have also lieen known to prdtect tlie young birds, as in 

 the following instance, which occurred m Aberdeenshire : " 1 

 have for the last fortnight ahiK.ist daily watched a cock 

 ])heasant leading' about a brood of voung ones, whose mother 

 has evidently come to grief. A more attentive and careful 

 nurse could not be than this crick. He boldly follows his 

 young charge on the lawns and to other places where he 

 never ventured before, tiuds them food, and stands sentry 

 over T,hem with untiring persevei'ance. They are thriving 

 so well under liis care and growing so fast, that they will 

 soon bo aide to shift f(jr themselves.'' 



The same singular occurrence has also taken place iu an 

 a.viary. Lord Willoughby de T-roke some time since )iublislied 

 the following h.'tter : "1 have a,u aviary m which there is a 

 cock pheasant and four (;r five hens of the Chinese breed ; at 

 the l)eginning of the laying season the cock scrapinl a hole in 

 the sand, in which the hens laid four eggs ; he then collected 

 a r[uantity of loose sticks, formed a perfect nest, and began 

 to sit; lie sa1 most pntiently, seldom leaving the nest till the 

 eggs were chipped, when the keeper, afraiil of his killing 

 them, took them from him, and placed them under a hen 

 jiheasant who was sitting on bad eggs; they were hatched the 



