TETHERING HENS WITH YOUNG BIRDS. 127 



at night, the vvu'e iifttiun' being- auiiiciont jn'oti'L-t.iijii :ig:u'nst 

 vermin and cats. I (h> not know whether any of your re:Mh_!rs 

 have ever aceompanieil their keeper on a- hot summer 

 morniuo- when he is letting the young Ijird.s out <if the e(jeps. 

 If not, let them do so, and bnt put their noses within a feot 

 of the coop, and I will venture to say that thev will never 

 allow such cruelty again. Abire than a dozen Ihrds contined, 

 perha.ps for ten houis, in a. dirty, ill-ventilated box, con- 

 taining less than half a cubic 3'ard of air. Ne wonder that 

 they li_ir)k languid and drooping, and that it takes them half 

 the day to recover. I am far fi-om insisting that the birds 

 shonhl at all times be kept in these small yards. When they 

 are more than a week old I would, in hue weather, raise one 

 of the sides and let them roa.m at their will, ef course re- 

 placing the board at night. Jbit in \vet weather and in the 

 mornings before the d^'w is gene, I would keep them up, and 

 not run the risk of their getting draggled and chilled with 

 running on the wet gra.ss." When shut in at night, which is 

 often necessai-y to avoid loss by weasles or rats, &c., they 

 should be let (Jut at davbreak in the m(U'uing\ 



Many keo])ers prefei' rearing the ycjung pheasants under 

 hens that are tethered by a cord to a. ]ieg di'iven into the 

 ground, with an open shelter coop into which they can 

 retreat at night and during rain. 



In tethering hens used for rearing voung pheasants, a 

 jess, such as is used by falconers, is generally employed. A 

 piece of thin, flexible leather, about eight inches long, by 



something less than lin. fu'oad, sh'iuld fje taken, and thi'ee 

 openings cut in it, as shown in the diagram, which is one-half 

 the re(pnred size. The part between A and 1! should be 

 placed round the leg of the hen, the slit A being In'ought 



