152 PHEASANTS FOR COVERTS AND AVIARIES. 



legs ; in a week tliere was a great imjirovement, and after tw" 

 or tlii'ee applications the l^ird became ].ierfect]y well. Since 

 that time I have ciii'ed many. I generally apply it once iu a 

 week or ten days. 1 hnd the Versicoloi's and Keevcs are the 

 most liable to the disease, and do not remember having ever 

 seen a case of it on the Grold." 



Disease of the ovary, attended by the assumption of male 

 ]5lnniage by the female pheasant, is ;i phenomen(.)n that liiis 

 long attracted the a.ttention of naturalists. It was described 

 by John Hunter in his " Aiumal Kconomy," and in the 

 " Philosojihical Trairsactions," vol. Ixx., p. -V27, and also by 

 Yarrell. Although gamekeepers frequently s])eak of the hens 

 thus changed in attire under the title of mule birds, it is now 

 generally accepted that the assumption of male jduraage is 

 caused liy disease of the <iva.ry, and that the liirds exhibiting 

 this change are barren females, not, however, necessarily old 

 birds, as the change of ])lumMge may result from ovarian 

 disease in a hen that has not laid. Exce]itions to this rule 

 are, however, given l)v Mr. .1. H. (lurnev {Thi.-<, 18S8) as 

 (iccurniig iu the mergansei', chaffinch, and redstart. Tlii' 

 change oi plumage takes ])lace to a varying extent, usualK' 

 Ijeginiiing with a, slight alteraticjn of the neck feathers. In 

 some cases it is absoluteU' I'litire ; the hen being clothed in 

 perfect niasculine plumage, not. a single feather of the biid\- 

 remaining unchanged. This sinaadar modification is lutt coii- 

 hncd to the common pheasant, but extends doul)tless to the 

 wdnjle group. It is recorded as occurring in the Siher I 'heasant 

 [Enplni-d mils u i/rl Iwiiieriis) in the Fi'rld uf Xov. 1:!, 1 8(j!}, and, 

 thanks to the kindness of Air. jjcno, I had in ni\' ]>ossession 

 a Golden Pheasant hen [Tim ii niiiJeii jiichi) in which the meta- 

 morphosis was co!ii])lete. Mr. Leno had this liird in his 

 ]i(jssessi(iii foi' some years, and had noticed the alteration 

 increasing at each annual moult. A corresponding alteration 

 has been frequently observed in the female of the domestic 

 fowl and occasionally in the grouse, Ijul it is not c(3ulined to 

 gallinaceous birds, sometimes occurring in the d(jmestic duck 



