42 Distribution. 



turned loose four years ago ; they are hardy, easih' domesti- 

 cated, but not so prohfic as the ring-necks. Their flesh is 

 white and tender." 



In the Eastern States the pheasants are in certain locaHties 

 doing very well ; as many as a thousand birds have been 

 reared and turned out by a single keeper, and the pheasant 

 is generally regarded as the future game bird of the country, 

 as it is able to withstand verj' considerable variations of 

 temperature. A number of game clubs have been formed for 

 their protection, and large numbers are raised in the Long 

 Island and other preserves. The Game Commissioners of 

 various states are encouraging their breeding, and, to quote 

 the words of the Boston Herald, " the outlook for the hand- 

 somest and most delicious game bird in the world is quite 

 rosy in this country." 



In Nova Scotia the pheasant was introduced thirty years 

 ago by Professor Butler, and at once bred freely and flourished 

 in the open, despite of the winter cold of the climate. 



In the countries nearest to the locality from whence the 

 common pheasant is supposed to have been derived, it is 

 not, strange to say, abundant ; thus Canon Tristram informs 

 us that it does not appear to be known in Syria. In 

 Greece, the Hon. T. L. Powys (afterwards Lord Lilford), 

 writing in The Ibis, states that " The only localities in which 

 I have seen pheasants in these parts were once on the Luro 

 river, near Prevesa, in March, 1857, on which occasion I only 

 saw one, the bird having never previously been met with in 

 that part of the country ; and again in December of the same 

 year, in the forests near the mouth of the River Drin, in 

 Albania, where it is comparatively common, and where several 

 fell to our guns. In this latter locahty, the pheasant's habitat 

 seems to be confined to a radius of from twenty to thirty miles 

 to the north, east, and south of the town of Alessio — a district 

 for the most part densely wooded and well watered, with 

 occasional tracts of cultivated ground, Indian corn being 

 apparenth' the principle produce, and forming, with the 



