THE WILD PHEASANT 193 



past, one is led to the conclusion that 

 there has been a curious mistake made 

 by many sportsmen and naturalists as 

 to the status of the pheasant in Britain, 

 and that the commonly accepted idea of 

 artificial rearing being essential to its 

 continuance is very wide of the truth. 



The writer at least is convinced that 

 the pheasant has by long residence ac- 

 quired a place among our native birds, and 

 further is so thoroughly acclimatized 

 among us, that the chances of survival of 

 this stranger from far lands are probably 

 better, under purely wild conditions, than 

 those of the indigenous black-cock. 



There are of course many parts of 

 the country where wild pheasants will 

 never thrive, and many others where their 

 presence is undesirable. Wild pheasants 

 and foxes can only be maintained on the 

 same ground by artificial assistance of the 

 one or strict limitation in the numbers of 

 the other, and unless the laborious system 

 of safeguarding the eggs — so successfully 

 initiated at Euston — ^be resorted to, there 



13 



