EEEVBS'S PHEASANT. Ill 



The late Mr. J. J. Stone, to whom naturalists are so much indebted for his 

 introduction of this and other splendid pheasants, was of opinion that the value of 

 Eeeves's pheasant in this country rests mainly upon its size and strength of iBight, 

 making it the prince of game birds for our woods. In a communication to me on 

 the subject, he wrote : — " The point I aim at is to induce the large landed proprietors 

 and game preservers to introduce the Reeves's pheasant into their coverts, believing 

 that it will (from its wild character) afford the best sport of all the pheasants, and 

 from its size and the magnificence of its plumage it must be a desirable addition 

 to our list of game birds. I want to see Eeeves's pheasant common on the dinner 

 table ; and there is no reason why it should not be so in a few years, seeing that 

 it is now being bred freely in Belgium, and may be purchased there at about the 

 price which the Versicolor still commands, though much longer introduced into 

 Europe." Several attempts have been made to introduce this most noble of aU the 

 true pheasants into our coverts. 



Lord Lilford, writing in March, 1881, gives me the following valuable informa- 

 tion : — " I have kept several in pens, and found them very uncertain layers, although 

 one season my hen birds laid an average of twenty eggs apiece, from which a very 

 good proportion of young birds were hatched out. My impression is that these birds 

 lay best — at all events in captivity — at about their third or fourth year. My 

 gamekeeper, who has had charge of them, assures me that the young birds are 

 very hardy and easy to rear. I have in Northamptonshire (the county m which I 

 have tried these birds) no very large extent of woodlands of my own, and cannot 

 therefore teU you much of their habits in a wild state, as they are very much given 

 to roaming to great distances, and a good many have fallen victims in my neighbours' 

 woods, besides the large percentage that may be always allowed in a foxhunting 

 country. They have certainly crossed, though not abundantly, with the common 

 pheasant. The male hybrid of the first cross is a most splendid bird. Reeves's 

 pheasant is a very wUd, shy bird, very quick on the wing, somewhat given to 

 go back if possible, but quickly attains a good height in the air, giving good 

 rocketing shots. I found them most excellent for the table — in my opinion far 

 superior to the common pheasant. I believe, from what I have seen and heard of 

 this species, that for real success with them in this country a wide range of hUl 

 coverts would be most eligible. I believe that Sir Dudley Ooutts Majoribanks has 

 had great success with Reeves's pheasants in Inverness-shire." I am informed that 

 as many as sixty Reeves's have been shot in these coverts in a single season. 



Mr. J. Mayes, head keeper to the Maharajah Dhuleep Sing, writing from 

 Elvedon, in 1877, stated: — "I have bred the Reeves's pheasant for the last five 

 or six years, rearing them by hand, and have had pretty good luck with them the 

 last two years, having succeeded in rearing about sixty in the two seasons ; but I 

 find they are much healthier turned out than when penned up. (The soil here is 



