154 PHEASANTS FOR COVERTS AND AVIARIES. 



one or two small punctures of the skin ;it different parts of 

 the body the air would have escaped, and the bird in all 

 jirobability would have recovered ; but it was so distended 

 that it could not even feed itself, and tlie crop and intestines, 

 although ])erfectly healthy, were destitute of food. Such 

 cases are not very uncommon, but, as they usually arise from 

 accident, it is remarkable that in this case several should have 

 occurred amongst the birds in one locah'ty. The cases are 

 usually perfectly isolated. 



It not iufre(|ucntly hap]5eus that largo numbers (jf young 

 pheasants die of mysterious ailments, tlie causes of which 

 are very difficult to determine. When they have been 

 ascertained, thev have been ':icca,siona.lly traced to some 

 injurious substances taken as food. In one case that came 

 under my notice the destructive agent was shee|)'s wool. 

 A correspondent wrote, stating tliat during six weeks he lost 

 upwards of 300 young pheasants from no apparent cause, 

 but that suljsecpiently he received a letter ii-om liis game- 

 keeper, who wrote: — "I have found out the cause nf the 

 pheasants dying. The farmer k(!pt his sheep s(j long njion 

 that jhece (.)f ground before I had the use of it, that the 

 sheep lost a lot of wool, and my youTig birds have swallowed 

 it. I have (ipened forty or hfty young birds, and found the 

 gizza,rds (piite full of wool, and the j^assage stopped up, so 

 that food ciinld not pass. I send you four pieces of wool, 

 which I liave taken irom the gizzards of four different 

 birds. I never had a better lot of young birds. They 

 hatched off strong and well, and now [ have lost nearlv 

 all of them." 



It is pi-obable that the sheep might have been dresseil 

 with si.ime arsenical or other poisonous "dip" or " wash," 

 which would remain on the wool and prove fatal to the young- 

 birds. Tlie arsenical solution known as "weed-killer" is 

 sometimes fatal to plicasants in pleasure grounds ; it kills 

 the worms and grubs tliat are near the surface of the ])aths, 

 and these are eaten by the plieasants with fatal effect. 



