6 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE PHEASANTS. 



a mirror reflecting the outer landscape. It is needless to say the bird was killed 

 instantaneously. Tw'o hen pheasants had on previous occasions been killed in the 

 same way, but the glass was not damaged." Mr. G. A. Hackett, of Pailton House, 

 E-ugby, also wrote as follows : " I was much astonished to-day, at about two o'clock, 

 by hearing a loud crash of glass in my smoking-room, and on going there I found 

 a cock pheasant dead on the floor close to the window, and the plate of glass, 

 which is 4ft. by 3ft. 6in., and :^in. thick, in thousands of fragments. I am certain 

 no blow from a man could have in like manner demolished the glass, of which I 

 send you a piece. The pheasant was a ring-necked, last year's bird, and weighed 

 nearly 31b." These instances occurred in the day-time. Sometimes the birds are 

 attracted by a light, as in the following cases : " On a very rough night in January, 

 a hen pheasant flew through the hall window at Merthyr Manor, Bridgend, attracted 

 by a light inside." And the following incident is related as occurring in a village 

 not far from Bangor, on the banks of a river on the opposite side of which is a 

 plantation well stocked with pheasants : " One stormy night there sat in a room of 

 a small public, which had a window facing the plantation, six or, seven men enjoying 

 their pipes and beer, when all of a siidden crash went the window, out went the 

 candle, and out rushed the men in great consternation. On examining the room a 

 splendid cock pheasant was found under the table." 



The wings, considered with reference to the size and weight of the bird, are 

 short and small; from the secondary quills being nearly as long as the primary, 

 they are very rounded in form, the third and fourth primary feathers being the 

 longest. The wings are not adapted to a very prolonged flight, although the 

 denizens of the wilder districts in the country fly with a speed and cover a distance 

 that are alike unknown to the over-fattened birds in our preserves. Long flights 

 are, however, not altogether beyond the powers of the bird. One of unusual length 

 was recorded by Mr. J. Oordeaux, of Great Cotes, Ulceby, who states that " when 

 shooting in the marshes on the Lincolnshire side of the Humber, near Orimsby, 

 a man who works on the sea embankment came to say that two pheasants had just 

 flown over from the Yorkshire side, alighting within a few feet of where he was 

 working among the rough grass on the bank. On going to the spot indicated, I at 

 once found and shot them; they were both hens, and in very good condition. The 

 Humber at this place from shore to shore is nearly four miles across. There was a 

 strong northerly breeze blowing at the time, so that they would cross before the 

 wind, or with the wind a little aslant. I have occasionally found pheasants in the 

 marshes, and near the embankment, which I was sure must have come across, but 

 had no direct evidence of the fact." 



The comparatively small size of the wings necessitates their being moved 

 with great force and velocity, and consequently the moving powers or muscles of 

 the breast are very large and well developed, taking their origin from the deep 



