70 PHEASANTS 



round serviceable weapon, and with the 

 sharp edge of the upper mandible makes a 

 tolerable pair of scissors, as those who 

 take delight in their gardens may gather 

 from the appearance of their crocuses and 

 daffodils. The food is first stowed in the 

 strong, capacious crop. Thence a short 

 passage leads to the gizzard ; this passage 

 has an importance quite disproportionate 

 to its length, for here the gastric fluid — 

 essential to the process of digestion — is 

 secreted. In the gizzard, which is lined 

 with a dense, thick skin, the food is ground 

 to a pulp, the action being much assisted 

 by the grit — small stones and gravel — 

 which the owner habitually swallows for 

 the purpose. The pulp then passes 

 through six feet of intestines, during 

 which the nourishment for the support of 

 the bird is extracted. The two cseca, or 

 blind guts, are unusually large, and 

 materially assist this latter process.^ 



The pheasant in a wild state is a 

 singularly healthy bird, and the many 



' Abbreviated from Tegetmeier on Pheasants. 



