BEARING AND PROTECTION. (jj 



W(ini <:)iit liens are left longer than is (.Icsiraljlc or 

 profitable. 



The chapters on the " jManagemeiic of Pheasants in 

 Preserves" \vciuld lie incomplete^ without the consideration ot 

 the best means ol' ])rotect,ing them against their numerous 

 enemies. The chief fonr-footed depreda.tors a,re cats, t'oxi-s, 

 he(lgi_>hogs, and sti:)ats. Their othei' euereiies are feathered 

 and nnfeathered. Amongst the former are rooks, crows, 

 magpies, jackdaws, and jays, all gi-eat destroyers of 

 eggs. ]')ut the nnfeathered bipeds, known as poachers, are 

 perhaps the most destructive. P>y far the greater number 

 of pheasants ])urloined Ijy the poacher are slnjt ;ifc night; 

 this destruction may be ]irevented in gi-eat p:irt, without 

 the uecessit}' for night watching, by having suitable coverts, 

 as has been already fullj^ explained in the preceding chapter. 

 Where larches and other trees with exposed horizontal 

 branches abound^ recourse should be had to mock pheasants, 

 which are excessively annoying to poachers, as they cause 

 them to expend ainmunitiou nseles.sly and alarm the neigh- 

 bouring keepers, witbout any profitable result. Mock 

 pheasants, quite incapable (if being distinguished from the 

 real birds at night, may f)e made of hay bands, rushes, or 

 fern, b(juud with tarred twine or wire on a stick about two 

 feet long. Ca])t. Darwin, in his " (xame Preserver's ^Manual," 

 writing of mock ])heasants, states " they are very easily 

 made, but their situations should be often varied. Sijine 

 keepers nialce them of boa,rd cut into the shape <.)f a pheasant. 

 These arc of little use, for a poacher gets under them and 

 sees at once what they are. Others make the body of wood 

 roughly turned in a lathe, and nail a striji of wouA on it for 

 a tail, or witli real tail feathers stuck iu. 'Jdie best mode of 

 making mock pheasants after all is as follows : <iet a Ininch 

 of \ou^ hay and roll it round a stick till it is the si/^e of a 

 pheasant's body, leaving enough for a tail; wrap it with thin 

 copper vvii'e down to the cud of the tail ; cut a ]ieg about six 

 inches long and as thick as a lead pencil; wind a bit of hay 



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