86 Formation of Pens. 



Instead of placing a cock and three to five hens in a pen, 

 as recommended, some persons advocate putting cut-winged 

 hens onlj' in enclosures open at the top, so that they may be 

 visited by the wild males. This method can only be followed 

 in the vicinity of well-stocked coverts, and even under these 

 conditions it is not always successful, the eggs frequently not 

 being fertihsed. A very practical correspondent writes as 

 follows : " It is sometimes recommended to put pheasant hens 

 into small enclosures open at the top, so that the wild cocks 

 might get to them. I suppose generally that plan is successful, 

 but in my own case it has failed entirely. I had plenty of 

 eggs, but no chickens. My keeper gathered the eggs regularly 

 and carefully, and they were duly set under common hens ; 

 but not one single egg came off. I know the wild cocks came 

 close to the enclosure, but I never actually found one inside. 

 I followed Baily's instructions imphcitly ; my own impression 

 was, I must say, that the wild cocks had not visited the hens." 

 This appears an exceptional case, and may probably be due 

 to some local conditions, such as the small size of the enclosures. 



On the other hand, a second authority states : — " On an 

 estate with Avhich I am well acquainted, the whole of the 

 young birds, some 400, were reared from eggs produced by 

 hens whose mates were wild birds. The pheasantry was 

 constructed with an open top, and the wild cock birds regularly 

 visited it. The tameness of these birds was remarkable, 

 and I h-Axe frequently seen six or eight cock birds walking 

 fearlessly about Avithin a few yards of me while inspecting 

 the birds. As an instance of the audacity of the wild bird, 

 I may mention that a few years ago I kept five hen pheasants 

 and one cock pheasant in a temporary covered pheasantry, 

 the lower part being covered up to the height of two or three 

 feet, and the upper part being constructed of wire stretched 

 on poles. I noticed shortly after the birds had been put in 

 that the wire was bulged inwards in several places, and could 

 not imagine how it had been done. On watching, however, 

 I found a wild coclt pheasant was in the habit of regularly 



