THE COMMON PHEASANT 



30 feet high, and it is an exception if one roosts on the 

 ground, when perhaps it has wandered too far in the fields 

 from the trees. 



" It is an impetuous wild bird, though not really shy, unless 

 one calls its nervous carefulness and boundless flight by that 

 name. Even when used to the keeper, and half tame, it 

 comes to the usual feeding-place at the call with fear and 

 trembling, and seeks to satisfy itself quickly in order to run 

 back to its hiding-place in the thicket at the least noise. Its 

 fear knows no bounds ; a passing mouse will scare it severely, 

 and even a snail creeping past will frighten the hen from 

 off her nest, and on the approach of real and great danger, 

 she remains on it like dead. 



"In spring and in pairing time, the male is restless and 

 wild. He then often comes out of his hiding-place, to an 

 open place on the edge of the thicket in an erect position, 

 claps his wings several times, and shoves himself forward in 

 a peculiar position a few feet, and emits a harsh note, which 

 one cannot well express except by calling it a crow of one 

 syllable. It has some resemblance to the crow of the barn- 

 door cock, but it is shorter. It is a note with which he calls 

 the female and is seldom heard except in spring. Only 

 young males sometimes crow in autumn. 



"His food consists of grain, sweet fruits and berries, green 

 herbage, insects and worms, accordingly as the time of the 

 year for them. Ants and their larvae are a particularly 

 favoured food of his, and these form the chief food of the 

 young. 



''Male. — Upper part of the head green, brownish on the 

 occiput, divided by greenish feathers on each side of the head 

 behind the ears. Throat, sides of face, spotted, under the 

 eye and neck, green with ridged bluish reflections. Upper 

 part of the back, golden yellow, with a dark blue V-shaped 



c 33 



