THE COOKERY OF THE PHEASANT 245 



birds. It is notorious that the county is famous for its 

 wheat fields. The soil and climate are phenomenally 

 dry, so that the birds are always in excellent condition, 

 and there are varieties of berries on the undergrowth 

 with snug sitting in the bracken beds. The heaviest 

 pheasants have been shot in Norfolk battues, al- 

 though size is of course a secondary consideration. 

 We may add, although it may appear paradoxical, 

 that in our opinion, and for similar reasons, the 

 pheasant is at his best where he is most of an exotic. 

 There is no more glorious sport, for example, than in 

 the copses overhanging Loch Lomond, or in those 

 sloping down to the seaweed-strewn shores of Argyll- 

 shire. There is seldom regular preserving, and the 

 birds are comparatively few and far between. But if 

 they could be head-marked and consigned to the 

 leading London poulterers they would inevitably com- 

 mand the highest prices. We have referred already 

 to the objections to buying game, when you are igno- 

 rant of the county of its prevenance. But besides 

 that, when an inexperienced individual goes market- 

 ing on his own account, he is pretty sure to make an 

 unfortunate choice. Whatever may be said of battues 

 from the sporting point of view — and much ignorant 

 nonsense is talked about them — it is certain that they 

 are injurious to the interests of the kitchen. When the 



