36 PHEASANTS FOR COVERTS AND AVIARIES. 



almost exclnsivelvj iliut one still meets with the iiure 

 I'liii.sia nils citlfli'iriis fVeo frum any trace <.)f the riug'-iieckeil 

 or Chinese cmss in its plumage^ l>nt otTering" at the same time 

 a p(jor cont"ost to those hybrid birds both in size and weight. 

 ]jesides the thick nndergrtiwth in woods and jilantations, 

 pheasants a.rc jiartienlarly partial to low, damp situations, 

 such as 'ilder and osier carrs, l.iy the river side. In tliis 

 country, also, stragglers from some neighbonring coverts are 

 not infrec|uentlv found on the snipe marshes surrounding the 

 ]")ro;i(ls, where the s])0i'tsman, following u]i his dog at a 

 ' running point,' is suddenly startled by the whirr of a noble 

 'king tail,' when never dreaming (.)f any larger game than 

 rails or waier-hens." 



In Scotland it is now very generally distriljuted in 

 the westei'U counties, irom W^igtown iu the south t'l 

 Sutherland in the north. j\[r. ii. (iray writes "In the 

 neighbourhood of Loch Lomond, it nia\' occasionalb' be 

 noticed u\i the mountain sides, at a ctmsideraijle elevation, 

 siuuetimes as far upi as twelve hundred feet. In Shenuire 

 Glen, I have seen ma,le birds rise from the heath among the 

 rocks, and, wheeling round, direct their flight down the 

 valley with extraordinary speed. A'ery dilferent indeed is the 

 flight of these strong-wiuged natives of the glen from 

 that of over-fed birds in wooded preserves ; and as one 

 bird after another shoots past in high air, oue can hardlv 

 resist the impression that, if left to its own selection, the 

 pheasant would atbipt itself wonderfully to the ilrawbacks of 

 its adopted country. ^\v. Llwes informs uie that he has 

 frequently seen pheasants in ]slay get up in the most unlikely 

 places, such as an open moor, miles away from any covert or 

 corn-fiehl, and sometimes in a wet bog, where (.me would be 

 more likely to hnd a snipe. On tha,t island, where it was 

 introduced about tliirly years ago l)y Mr. Campbell, the 

 joheabant is now not nnc(jmin(")n, and a]ipears to be on the 

 increase. In the (")utei- Hebi'ides it has likewise been 

 intr(xluced into Lewis by Sii- James j\Iatheson, who has 



