PHEASANTS IN COVERT AND AVIARY 



are also found in the woods of Vhrakori in Etolia, about 

 midway between the Gulfs of Lepanto and Arta. 



The following account of the habits of this species is 

 taken from Naumann's Birds of Europe, translated by 

 H. E. Dresser, Esq: — 



"It is found thoroughly wild and in abundance in several 

 parts of Bohemia, on the Danube, and on the Rhine, and the 

 wooded islands in this river, on the pasture lands of the 

 Elbe, and in many fertile and beautiful parts of Germany, 

 still less in the northern than in the southern part. 



" It is necessary to spread them in our part of the world 

 by human assistance, as this bird is without desire to migrate, 

 and flies so heavily as to be unable to make long journeys. In 

 their own country they are said to leave their places of abode 

 in autumn, but soon return when the weather is favourable, 

 and are therefore truly migrants. The Pheasant is certainly 

 a forest bird, but still not so in the truest sense of the term, 

 for neither does it inhabit the dense tree forest, nor the depths 

 of the mixed forest, unless driven to do so. Small pieces of 

 green, where deep underbush and high grass grows between 

 the trees, thorn hedges, berry growing bushes and water 

 overgrown with weeds, are their chosen places of abode. 

 Nor must well cultivated and grain growing fields be wanting 

 where the bird is to do well. It neither likes the raw 

 mountain country, nor dry sandy places, nor does it frequent 

 the open woods, unless for protection against its enemies or 

 during bad weather, or at night. 



" It lives on the ground, skulking about the high grass and 

 dense underbush, and runs long distances without once rising 

 on the wing. Only when surprised by a beast of prey, does 

 it take refuge in a tree, which it leaves soon after, and returns 

 to the ground. It roosts on a branch of a tree, from lo to 



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