CHAPTEE III. 



Management of Pheasants In Preserves. 



Formation of Coverts. 



BEFORE any satisfactory progress can be made in the 

 preservation of pheasants, the existence of good and well- 

 protected coverts is indispensable ; and where these do not 

 naturally exist, the very first action of the game preserver must 

 be to effect their plantation on a scale commensurate with his 

 desires. This necessarily cannot be done without expense, but a 

 large stock of pheasants cannot be secured, save under the most 

 exceptional circumstances, without a very considerable outlay. 

 Some years since the subject of the formation of coverts 

 for pheasants was discussed in a very exhaustive manner in 

 the columns of the Field, and some admirable practical letters, 

 detailing the experiences of the writers, appeared in that 

 paper ; these are worthy of the most attentive consideration, 

 and I have great pleasure in availing myself of the oppor- 

 tunity of quoting from them. One of the most practical of 

 the writers, the late Mr. R. Carr Ellison, of Dunston Hill, 

 Durham, strongly advocated the formation of pheasant 

 roosts of spruce and silver firs, as affording the birds absolute 

 security against the attacks of night poachers. He writes : 

 " A number of country gentlemen who do not consider field 

 sports of primary importance, feel it right to abstain from the 

 preserving of pheasants. They see that the temptation 

 which these birds offer, when perched upon naked larches and,, 

 other trees, at night, is too strong to be resisted by many 

 a lad or working-man in the vicinity, who, but for this parti- 

 cular allurement to evil, might go on respectably and quietly 

 enough. They know that their duty towards their own sons 

 is to keep them out of needless temptations, and they are 



