BEEVM'S PHEASANT IN THE OPEN. 183 



wild and wary nature, it is not a desirable bird from a 

 sporting point of view, except in very large ranges of wood- 

 land ; and from what we have heard from a friend, who has 

 been in the native haunts of this fine bird in the mountains 

 of Northern China, we are inclined to think that it is more 

 likely to prosper in Scotland and in Wales than in our own 

 Midlands. The hybrids between this and the common 

 pheasant are beautiful birds, but not, so far as we have been 

 able to ascertain, prolific." 



The late Mr. Home, of Hereford, who reared numbers of 

 the Reeves's pheasants, forwarded to me a letter from a lady 

 who has been most successful with them in the extreme north 

 of England regarding this species. This lady writes : 



" The cock and two hens I purchased have done wonders, 

 and my estate is now fairly stocked with birds, having put all 

 this season's eggs in nests of the common pheasant, except a 

 few which I reared myselE and a few which I sold. My hens 

 last season averaged nearly fifty eggs each — ^not bad laying." 



Not only in the extreme north, but in the more cultivated 

 parts of England, Reeves's pheasants have done well. One 

 gentleman informs me that during the year 1895 he raised 

 more than twenty in the open, which are now all in full 

 plumage, and that he found them easy to rear. 



There can be no doubt whatever, as suggested by Lord 

 LiHord, that, the bird being from North China, is hardy and 

 well adapted to mountainous districts, such as those of 

 Scotland and Wales. It appears that the easiest way of 

 introducing it as a wild bird in those places to which it is 

 adapted would be to place the eggs in the nests of pheasants 

 breeding in the open. Reared under those circumstances, 

 the young would be hardy and vigorous in the extreme, 

 and would be much more likely to do well than if hand-reared 

 and turned out afterwards. The fact of the hybrids between 

 it and the common species being sterile is, to my mind, rather 

 in its favour than otherwibe. There would be no mongrel 

 crosses introduced, and Reeves's pheasant could be confined to 



