104 PHEASANTS FOB COVERTS ANB AVIABIES. 



touses. Under these conditions the nests swarm with 

 vermin, the sitting hens become irritable and break their 

 eggs; and when the young pheasants come out they are 

 infested with fleas and lice, and are nearly devoured alive. 

 Moreover, the dry, stifling air of these places is destructive 

 to the vitality of the unhatched birds, numbers of which die 

 in the shell either before or at the period of hatching. Every 

 poultry keeper knows that no nests are so prolific of strong 

 healthy chickens as those that the hens "steal" under 

 hedges or in copses or concealed places, from whence they 

 emerge with strong flourishing broods that put to shame the 

 delicate, sickly youngsters reared in the close air and dry 

 over-heated nests of a hatching-house. The nearer we can 

 imitate Nature the better — and if the hens hatching pheasants' 

 eggs can be set on the ground, covered over with a ventilated 



HATCHING BOX. BOX AND BUN COMPLETE. 



coop — more for concealment than warmth — and this sur- 

 rounded by a wire run, into which the hen can come out, feed, 

 drink, and, above all, dust herself, at her will, the eggs will be 

 found to hatch out much more abundantly than when they 

 are set in the vermin-infested, crowded pigeon holes adopted 

 by many keepers. Such nesting boxes may be a cheaply con- 

 structed box, as shown in the woodcut. The nest should be 

 on the ground, there being no bottom to the box ; and if the 

 sides and the wire work are sunk into the earth, and the 

 latter is sparrow and rat proof, the hen may be supplied once 

 daily with food and water without entailing any further 

 trouble. But some dry ashes should be given in which she 

 can dust herself, and it is needless to say that the larger 

 the wire inclosure can be made the better. 



