40 



MANAGEMENT OF PHEASANTS IN PRESERVES. 



performance, and it may drive them away. They are very easily frightened. If 

 you begin shooting rahbits, &c., they will take the alarm. They can't stand guns 

 going off constantly in the coverts where they are." 



Imitation pheasants thus made wiU only last a single season ; should anything 

 more permanent be desired, recoxirse must be had to those made of wood, which may 

 be cheaply and efficiently constructed on the following plan, the suggestion of a 

 correspondent, who states : " Six years since I had a number of wooden ones made 



and set up, and hundreds remain to this day. The manufacture was simple. Take 

 a fir pole, saw it through at an angle of 45° ; this cut, when rounded off, forms the 

 breast of the bird; a cut at 22^° forms the tail-end. So, by making alternate 



cuts at 45° and 22^°, you may cut up the pole without waste, as shown in the 

 plan sent herewith. A lath cut through in like manner at a very acute angle 

 forms a capital tail, which should be put on, much nearer the perpendicular than 

 shown in the engraving, as pheasants roost with the tail hanging nearly straight 

 down, the head is easily made out of the upper end of the pole, where too small 



for the body. Daub over with some oil paint (burnt umber), bore a hole through 

 the body for the nail, and nail on the tree with a chisel-ended nail, that you may 

 not split the branch. What the cost is you may judge, as a 12ft. pole costs 

 fourpence, or less. Place them pretty thick where pheasants roost. By boring a 

 hole lin. diameter from the underneath to within half an inch of the back, they 

 will, if placed on a naU, move with the wind. My experience of them is that 

 the deception is perfect enough, as they are difficult to distinguish from a pheasant, 

 even in daylight. Whatever kind of mock pheasant is employed, they should not 

 be placed too near public roads or footpaths, and in those cases in which they are 

 liable to observation during the day, they should be moved frequently." 



Alarm guns set in coverts with wires leading in different directions are 

 most valuable as alarming poachers, and indicating the locality in which they are 

 pursuing their depredations. One of the best, and certainly the cheapest, alarm 

 guns with which I am acquainted is that devised by Captain Darwin, and described 



