THE PHEASANT OF THE WOODLANDS 29 



a pheasant's nest with eleven eggs was found here 

 fully twenty feet from the ground in a spruce fir. 

 Thinking there would be a poor chance for the young 

 when hatched, I went for the purpose of bringing 

 away the eggs to put under a hen. The old bird was 

 sitting on and was determined to protect her eggs, 

 pecking at my hand and flapping her wings at me. I 

 thought it seemed a pity to rob such a good mother, 

 so I left her with five eggs to try her luck ; the other 

 eggs I put under a hen, and they hatched out eleven 

 days after. Knowing that the others up the tree 

 would be hatched also, I went to relieve the captives, 

 and on nearing the spot there was a young bird 

 calling at the bottom of the tree, and the old one 

 calling in reply from above. I brought them to the 

 ground, the old bird keeping quite near all the time, 

 pecking and darting at me nqw and then. The 

 young I put together, and on leaving the mother 

 chased me out of the wood, and then flew back to 

 her young. How the young bird was saved from 

 being killed by the fall was, no doubt, owing to the 

 thick branches.' ' 



In the summer of 1 894 Lord Lilford authenticated 

 a similar instance of a pheasant appropriating a 

 wood-pigeon's nest, in which she laid nine eggs 



' Field, June 6, 1892. 



