CHAPTER I 



THE PHEASANT IN HISTORY 



The acclimatisation of beautiful or useful birds has 



long exercised the ingenuity of men of divers races. 



The old Greeks and- Romans in particular bestowed 



great pains upon procuring rare and delicate birds to 



grace their menageries and poultry yards. Of game 



birds the peacock was a prime favourite ; but the 



pheasant was also held in high esteem. , ' quanto 



noi dobbiamo d' obligo a gli Argonauti ! ' exclaims 



Raimondi of Brescia ; whether or not Jason and his 



heroes introduced this bird to civilisation, there can 



be no doubt that it was first carried to the shores of 



Southern Greece from the flat, forest-covered plains 



of the river Phasis, the modern Rion. That it was 



so is a matter for surprise ; because this species might 



apparently have been procured then, as now, from the 



coverts of Mount Olympus or the Saronic Gulf; but 



the evidence of a crowd of classical writers, to each of 



which I have taken the trouble to refer, convinces 



