PHEASANTRY EGGS VERSUS WILD ONES 



near ; it is then that a labourer can justly claim his reward 

 by saving the eggs from destruction. To do this the nest 

 should not be disturbed, but the keeper made acquainted of 

 the vicinity in which it lies, so that he can judge for himself 

 if there is any danger. 



Should it be discovered that the hen from off the nest 

 has met with some accident preventing her from sitting 

 again on the eggs, the labourer should at once gather them, 

 nd hand them over to the keeper, taking care to see that 

 they are kept as warm as possible while off the nest. There 

 is an instance known of a partridge returning to her nest, 

 after it had been exposed by the cutting of the crop in the 

 middle of which it was situated, and remaining there to 

 hatch the eggs for four days, even with mowing operations 

 going on the whole time. 



When a keeper has been told that a nest is in danger, 

 the finder should be questioned as to how he became ac- 

 quainted with the fact. If it is thought that the nest is really 

 in danger, and should be removed at once, then the labourer 

 is entitled to receive his reward there and then ; but when 

 the nest is left as it is, on the chance that with due pre- 

 cautions the brood may be hatched, then the question of 

 reward should be left in abeyance until after that event has 

 come to pass, and all danger is over. Otherwise the labourer 

 may steal the eggs, leaving the keeper to believe that the 

 eggs have disappeared by other means. If the reward is 

 left over, the finder may do his best to earn it by protecting 

 the nest as far as possible within his power. 



With all his care, however, the keeper is sometimes 

 outwitted by the labourer, as in the following instance : — 

 Having found a Pheasant's nest in his garden fence, a man 

 was promised the usual reward on its hatching, by the 

 keeper. Some time afterwards the finder received the 



127 



