112 PHEASANTS FOR COVERTS AND AVIARIES. 



coarse cloth, which is to be twisted or j^ressed until the curd 

 is a hard mass. There are several objections to- curd as 

 food. The alum is a powerful astringent, and is not a natural 

 diet for young birds. The curd so made only contains two 

 of the constituents of the milk, namely, the caseine and the 

 cream. The whey, containing the sugar of milk, the saline 

 ingredients, and, above all, the bone-making materials, is 

 rejected, whereas, when the milk is made into custard, 

 the whole of the constituents are retained, and to them is 

 added the no less valuable ingredients of the egg. There is, 

 in fact, no comparison to be made between the nutritive 

 values of curd and custard. 



^ Gentles or the maggots of the bluebottle or flesh fly 

 are used by some keepers. They are generally obtained by 

 hanging up in the woods, at a distance from a human 

 habitation, some horseflesh, or the bodies of vermin that 

 have been killed, and the gentles are allowed to drop into a 

 tub of bran. The plan is necessarily ofEensive. A much 

 better plan in situations where it can be employed, is to allow 

 the dead bodies of any animals to become thoroughly fly- 

 blown, and then to bury them a few inches in the soil, 

 as described at page 83. It is obvious, however, that this 

 plan cannot be pursued where the pheasants are reared under 

 hens confined in coops. Maggots can also be procured in the 

 neighbourhood of the sea coast by adopting the following 

 plan, reconunended in Cornwall Simeons' " Stray Notes on 

 Fishing and Natural History : " 



" It is not, I think, generally known that maggots 

 admirably adapted for feeding young pheasants and par- 

 tridges can be procured from common sea-weed. This 

 should be taken up as near low water mark as possible, 

 placed in a heap, and allowed to rot about a fortnight, after 

 which it will be found swarming with maggots, rather 

 smaller than those bred in flesh. The keeper from whom I 

 learnt this dodge, a man of considerable experience in his 

 vocation, tells me that he considers them, as food for young 



