PHEASANTS IN COVERT AND AVIARY 



The straying of Pheasants is a subject that has given 

 rise to a great deal of discussion, and a considerable 

 amount of literature has from time to time been published 

 in connection with the matter, which is one of vital interest 

 in game preservation. In order to obtain the views of 

 head-keepers concerning it, the editors of the Gamekeeper 

 for June 1909 opened their columns to competition, awarding 

 a prize for the best essay, and the selected one appeared 

 in the issue of the following month, being from the pen 

 of Thomas Bamford, head-keeper to the Earl of Clarendon, 

 which the author has taken the liberty of reproducing. 

 Mr Bamford says : — 



"The straying of Pheasants is a matter which causes 

 the keeper perhaps more anxiety than any of the obstacles 

 he is called upon to surmount, especially on a small shoot, 

 or where the coverts are situated near the boundaries, 

 Needless to say, tame Pheasants are of a roving disposi- 

 tion, which can never be altered, although much may be 

 done by taking the earliest opportunity of checking their 

 first attempt to stray beyond certain limits, and attending 

 to the many details that have a tendency to make home 

 comforts. One of the first matters to be considered is 

 quietude, for without this straying will not be prevented, 

 no matter how favourably situated in other respects. 

 Pheasants will not tolerate a covert that has to be continu- 

 ally disturbed ; therefore every effort should be made to 

 keep the covert free from anything of a disturbing nature. 

 Pheasants bred in a wild state are naturally stay-at-home 

 birds, and nothing but constant disturbance and lack of 

 food will cause them to desert the locality in which they 

 are reared. It is not quite so with tame birds, for as 

 soon as they become independent of their foster-mothers 



222 



