48 PHEASANTS FOR COVERTS AND AVIARIES. 



tilt! clearest inouii]i^''lit. It consists oi' spruce a.nd silver tir, 

 regularly and unspariiiyly tliiimed to keep tlie trees ia health 

 and vigour. AVe never think ot niglit watcliing, even though 

 guns Ijo heard on adjoining estates, and the poachers liave 

 long given us n]i in despaii'. This lesser stronghold is kept 

 sacred from the gnns of s];)ortsinen, who are sui'O to find the 

 cock ]iheasa,nts dispersed througli all the other ])lantatious 

 during the daytime. The hrst thing tliehirds do cm a winter's 

 iiKji-ning, after pecking up a few beans near their roost, is to 

 -wander in search of their natural wild food iu the woodlands, 

 of whicli food the tubertms root of the celandine, or wood- 

 I'niiuiK-ulus, forms here a priiicijial jiart. Ihit, besides the 

 rcmiains of acorns and beech-nuts, they feed, I believe, much 

 on the fa,lleii keys of the ash aud sycamore, on hips a,nd haws, 

 and oQ tender blailes of grass, besides innuiiierable worms, 

 eggs of slugs, and larv;e of insects. T(_'mpted Ijy these 

 dainties, anil in frosty weather even by the crisp green 

 leaves of the holly, the I'ock pheasant will lea,ve his beans 

 and barley, and betake himself to freer haunts every line 

 ilay, and there the spol■t^nlan will lind liini ; but, if his life 

 be spared, he seldom fails to return at night to his warm 

 roost among the spruces, only with the adva.iice of spring 

 will he (|uitit; for habit has niaile him luxurious as to his 

 nights' quarters^ and more sensitive of c(jld than less lucky 

 ])heasants. 



"The Scotch pine is not nearly so temjiting to the 

 pheasant, at night as the spruce and silver tirs, because its 

 branches are not sufficiently horizontal ; yet, on ib-y hunti'rv 

 soils it must Ije largely intermixed, since the iirs ai'c not to be 

 depended on to flourisli (jn such gr(_)und. In some cases, a 

 stronghold may bt' I'ormed entirely (jf hollies, Ij'ortugal laurels 

 and yews. Vov luui pheasants it \\-\]\ be excellent ; but the 

 cocks, which prefer to roost higher, shoiihl havt> a few Iirs or 

 ])ines close a,t hand lor their accommodation. All food should 

 be given in i>v near ti_i these secure nocturnal retreals.'' 



Kespecting the eonvei-sion of existing mixed plantations 



