THE PHEASANT 4> 



eggs in was a water trough ! The case occurred two years 

 ago, at a country house near Cheltenham. There were 

 four inches of water in the trough, and the bird, by some 

 strange freak, preferred this queer cradle to any of the 

 handy bushes, planted round the spacious enclosure. 



A Pheasant's natural food is grain and seeds and 

 berries, roots and leaves, insects and grubs. But occasion- 

 ally it fills its crop with hazel nuts, and has even been 

 known to bolt a dead mouse. 



The male Pheasant is a pugnacious bird, and to see 

 him launch himself against a farm-yard cock is to see a 

 battle royal. Sometimes the manoeuvre by which the 

 Pheasant gets the advantage of his opponent is decidedly 

 amusing. He will fight on till out of breath ; then whirr, 

 up he flies into the nearest tree. The cock, furious by 

 this time, runs hither and thither, perplexed to find his 

 enemy missing. The latter, meanwhile, is resting and 

 taking breath, and when poor chanticleer, tired and baffled, 

 is walking off", down drops the Pheasa.nt, rushes at him, 

 engages him for a few moments, and then soars to his 

 perch. It is not surprising that the ruffled barn-door 

 king often quits the battlefield, leaving the honours with 

 the intruder. 



Handsome as is the Common Pheasant of our woods 

 and stubble-fields, he has relatives who far outshine him 

 in beauty and brightness of plumage, as well as, in some 

 cases, in size. 



Of these none is more resplendent than the GOLDEN 

 PHEASANT. A native of China, this wonderful bird has 

 figured for centuries in the pictures and embroideries of 

 that beauty-loving people. 



It is considerably smaller than the Common Pheasant ; 

 the length of the cock-bird is usually about three feet, and 



