FEEDING YOUNG PHEASANTS. 



is the seed of the crested dog's tail grass {Gijnonunis crif:tatii,s) , 

 with which their crops will often ))c found ([uite full, ;md 

 there is no doubt it would be an equally advantageous fooil for 

 young' pheasants, but is not as readily obtained as canary seed. 

 To afford a supply of artilicially prepared animal food, 

 most ot the hooks recommend hard-builed eg'gs, grated or 

 chopped small, to be mixed with bread crumbs, meal, 

 vegetables, &c. Nothing, however, can be less attractive to 

 the young birds than the food they are frequently condemned 

 to exist upon. I have often seen pieces of the choi^ped white 

 of hard-boiled egg, dried by the sun into horny angular 

 particles, refused by the young birds, although on these, with 

 bread crumbs also dried to Ijrittle fragments in the sun, many 

 persons attempt to rear young pheasants — and necessarily fail. 

 The best substitute for ants' eggs is custard, made by beating 

 an egg with a tal)]espoouful of milk, and "setting" the whole 

 by a gentle heat, either in the oven (,ii- l)y the side of the tire. 

 The clear eggs that have been sat on for a week answer 

 pei'fectly well. No artiticially prepared animal food can 

 surpass this mixture. The egg supplies albumen, oil, phos- 

 phorus, sulphur, &c. ; whilst the milk alfords caseine, sugar of 

 milk, a.ud the requisite phosphate of lime and other mineral 

 ingredients; moreover, these are all prepared and mixed in 

 Nature's laljoratory for the express purpose of supporting the 

 life and growth of young animals, and coinbiiR'il as custard 

 form a most soft, sapid, attractive I'ood, that is eagerly 

 devoured by the poults. From my own long ex|.)eriencc in 

 rearing many species of gallinaceous birds, I am coiitident 

 that a very much larger propi;>rtion can be reared if custard 

 and canary seed form a considerable proportion of their food 

 for the first few weeks, than on any other dietary whatever. 



ilany rearers of pheasants are strongly in favunr of 

 using curd, made from fresh, sweet milk put on the tire, and 

 when warm turned or curdled with alum, and then put into a 

 coarse cloth, which is to Ije twisted or pressed until the curd 

 is a hard mass. There are several objections to curd as 



