CHAPTEE vrr. 



MAi\A(IEMEi\T OF PHEASANTS L\ C0.\EIAE31E.\T 

 (CONTIKUED). 



LAYING AND HATCHING 





m 



!•' F tlie laying in aviaries there is but little to lie said. 



iMHj] 'j'lie liirds usually drop their e<:g^ aliout at I'aridom, 



.^^' conseciuently thev should Le looked after aud 



iif - i J ■ 



'.-•^ collected frequentlv, so as to prevent as iai' as 



/ . ^ ■ . .' 



iiossilile their lieing bi'okeu, which is almost certain to 



(stal)lish the destructive haliit of cg-i.' eatiup'. Sometimes, 



however, hen ]du_'nsants will rake to concealed nests, and 



instances are nut. iird^nown (if their sitting and hatrhing 



successfully iu c(jnlii;cment. A corresjiondent states: ''In 



1S5'2 T had a cock and tliree hens in a, small place (I will not 



dignify it by the name of an aviary, for it is (jpen at the top, 



and the Ihrds ari^ jiinioned or have theii' wings cut) ; one of 



the hens made a nest, and sat and hatidied live young ones. 



These, unfortunately, the other pheasants killed directly they 



came from under the mother. In l.S.").'-i, the same ben sat 



again on eleven eggs, aud hatched seven, when 1 let her out 



into my small garden, and a better mother J never saw ; she 



wiiuld allow m") sti'augers t(.i come near her without Hying at 



them. At the end of seven weeks the gapes killed them all. 



It was a curious sight to see the old jiheasant make her nest 



of ivy leaves and hay, the former of which she always used to 



cover her eggs w-itli when she left her nest, doinu' so by 



