34 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE PHEASANT 



On these occasions they preserve the most absolute 

 silence, and from excessive caution scarcely seem to 

 walk, but, as it were, glide along the ground between 

 the stalks of wheat or reeds. In case of any danger 

 threatening, the mother utters a shrill warning cry 

 and rushes into the thick undergrowth, swiftly fol- 

 lowed by her brood. The unfledged chicks of the 

 pheasant are so speedy and nimble that it is almost 

 impossible to catch them. And further, the yellow- 

 ish colour of their down, which is almost the same 

 shade as that of the golden corn fields, is of consider- 

 able assistance to them. The mother does not 

 entirely desert the nest till her brood is fledged, unless 

 it is discovered by the reapers or some other enemy. 

 When the young are fledged, the mother with the 

 whole brood makes excursions from place to place, 

 with a view to finding a quiet, comfortable spot where 

 food is abundant.' Another correspondent writes also 

 from the Caucasus, that the pheasant is less attentive 

 to her young than the ordinary fowl ; ' this is proved 

 by the fact that one may often come across young ones 

 of different ages following the same pheasant hen.' 



Every intelligent keeper will admit that the hen 

 pheasant is far inferior to the partridge as a nurse. 

 The former is most jealous of being disturbed while 

 she is sitting, and desertion frequently follows an un- 



