HOW TO SHOW PHEASANTS 131 



one ; and though you will not by this means get the 

 much-desired lofty trees for many years, yet it is a 

 well-ascertained fact that pheasants can and will rise 

 very high out of low covert to fly back to the high 

 wood, provided the lie of the ground favours the 

 operation. By this I mean that the short covert used 

 to flush the birds from must, at least, not lie lower 

 than the main wood, and should, if possible, be slightly 

 higher, when the desired result can be assured. 



But to avoid the risk, which is always considerable 

 when you are driving birds away from home for any 

 distance, of their flushing in considerable numbers 

 and turning back over the line, it is absolutely neces- 

 sary to preserve the distance between your hne and 

 the pheasants running in front of you which I have 

 described. In thick covert this is not easy, some are 

 sure to squat and flush and go back ; but by giving 

 time, and making plenty of noise, it is wonderful how 

 you can persuade them to slink and run away forward, 

 even when the undergrowth is apparently dense. 



To favour the operation, you must thin out the 

 undergrowth near the end of the main covert, letting 

 it die away, so to speak, at the edge into the open. 

 It may very likely not be possible to do away with the 

 fence at the end, but so long as this has plenty of 

 open places at the bottom it will not stop the phea- 



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