54 MANAGEMENT OF PHEASANTS IN CONEINBMBNT. 



mation of the intestines. My conclusion is, that if allowed to have free access ta 

 acorns they eat more than they should, and consequently many die. Keepers 

 frequently depend too much upon acorns." 



With regard to the employment of animal food, such as horseflesh, greaves, &o., 

 I believe its use, except in the very smallest quantity, to be exceedingly injurious j 

 nor do I approve of the spiced condiments so strongly recommended by the makers. 

 The bodies of dead domestic animals can, however, be most advantageously utiHzed by 

 aUowing them to become thoroughly fly-blown, and then burying them under about 

 a foot of soil in the pens, where the maggots go through the regular stages of growth, 

 after which they work their way to the surface in order to effect their change inta 

 chrysahds. They furnish an admirable supply of insect food for the birds, and 

 give them constant occupation and exercise in scratching in the ground. UtUized 

 in this manner, the bodies of dead fowls, or any small domestic animals, are perfectly 

 inoffensive, and the result is most advantageous to the birds. 



The employment of crushed bones, as a substitute for the varied animal 

 substances the pheasant feeds upon when in a wild state, is strongly advocated by 

 some authors. Mr. F. Crook writes : — " We have seen many instances of game being 

 perfectly cured of both eating their eggs and plucking each other, by the continual 

 practice of giving a portion of well-smashed bones every day. These remarks apply 

 more specially to, the home pheasantries, in consequence of the absence of the natural 

 shpU stuff they pick up when at liberty, but we would recommend some to be thrown 

 about the feeding grounds of the preserves, as the highly nutritious nature of the 

 elements of smashed fresh bones conduces remarkably to keep the birds together, 



« 



particularly in very wet seasons, when the condition of the land renders it impossible 

 for them to scratch about to the same extent." Should the aviary be situated on soil 

 in which small stones are absent, these must be suppHed ; this is most conveniently 

 done by throwing in some fresh gravel once or twice a week. 



There is one point on which almost all the works treating on the manage- 

 ment of pheasants are lamentably deficient, namely, enforcing the absolute necessity 

 for a constant supply of fresh green vegetable food. The tender grasses in an 

 aviary are soon eaten, and the birds, pining for fresh vegetable diet, become 

 irritable, feverish, and take to plucking each other's feathers. To prevent this, 

 cabbages, turnip leaves — still better, waste lettuces from the garden, when 

 goiag to seed^ — should be suppHed as fast as they are eaten; the smaller the pen 

 the greater the necessity for this supply. The late Dr. Jerdon, the distinguished 

 author of "The Birds of India," when visiting the pheasantries in the Zoological 

 Gardens, said, in his emphatic manner, " You are not giving these birds enough 

 vegetable food. Lettuce I Lettuce ! ! Lettuce ! ! ! " From my long experience in 

 breeding gallinaceous birds of all kinds, I can fuUy indorse his recommendation. 



Should these cultivated vegetables be not readily obtained, a good supply of 



