CHAPTER Y. 



MANAGEMENT OF PHEASANTS IN PRESEETES (CONTINUED). 



REARING AND PROTECTION. 



ITH regard to the rearing of pheasants in preserves hut little 

 need he said ; the less they are iaterf ered with the hetter. No 

 good can possihly come from disturhing the sitting hens, 

 but, on the other hand, a great amount of mischief may 

 accrue. When leaving the nest qiiietly in order to seek food, 

 the hen does so in such a manner as not to attract the atten- 

 tion of the numerous enemies, as crows, magpies, jays, &c., 

 that are on the watch to discover and devour her eggs ; but 

 driven off by the prying intrusion of a visitor, she departs 

 without caution, and makes known the situation of her 

 concealed nest. The only circumstance warranting any 

 interference with the nests of the wild birds, is the occurrence 

 of a greater number of eggs than the parent hen is capable of 

 rearing as young birds, should the whole of them be hatched. A hen pheasant 

 is rarely seen with more than six or seven young, at least when they have arrived 

 at any size ; and as she not unfrequently lays a larger number of eggs, it is an 

 advantageous plan to remove all beyond eight or nine for the purpose of hatching ! 

 them under common farmyard hens. Mr. J. BaUy, in his " Pheasants and 

 Pheasantries," says that if "a keeper knows of forty nests, seven eggs may be 

 safely spared from each ; this will give two hundred and eighty eggs for tame 

 rearing ; " but such a degree of prolificacy in wild pheasants is a higher average 

 than has ever come under my notice. 



Another point of very considerable importance with regard to the breeding 

 of pheasants in preserves, is the number of cocks that should be left in the spring 

 in proportion to the number of hens. There is no doubt whatever that in a state 

 of nature pheasants are polygamous, the stronger males driving away the weakerj 

 and taking possession of several hens to constitute their seraglios ; heace the custom 

 to shoot down most of the cocks, and leave all the hens, even the oldest, to breed. 



