THE CARE OF PHEASANTS IN CAPTIVITY 215 



A great variety of remedies has been devised, none very efficient. Even the most 

 obstinate cases will sometimes yield after prolonged treatment, but pheasants are 

 difficult to handle, and in most cases local treatment several times daily is out of 

 the question. The safest course to pursue is the destruction of infected birds as soon 

 as detected, and thorough disinfection of the quarters they have occupied. 



Aspergillosis is a fungoid disease, often confused with tuberculosis. An 

 examination of the dead bird may disclose lesions of two sorts — small round nodules, 

 massed or isolated, usually buried in the organs or tissues, and yellowish, cheesy 

 growths of considerable extent and thickness, usually found in the lungs or abdomen, 

 the exposed surface thickly covered with a greenish mould. Microscopical examination 

 of this growth shows it to be formed by a fungus of the genus A spergillus — most 

 frequently A. fumigatus. This mould and its spores are almost invariably present in 

 mouldy grain and straw, and birds coming in contact with them are easily infected. 



There is no efficient remedy, and the afflicted breeder can only destroy sick or dead 

 birds, and exercise greater vigilance in the selection of grain. 



Cholera is a virulent and highly infectious disease, and a true scourge of the 

 gamekeeper. Fortunately, its ravages in America are not, as yet, so extensive as they 

 are on Continental preserves, where breeding has been carried on for a much 

 longer period. 



JUNGLEFOWL 



Red Junglefowl are as rare as they are desirable, and it is only at long intervals 

 that they are to be obtained. Their interest can hardly be over-estimated, for even the 

 most casual visitor will be attracted by these noble little birds, looking like glorified 

 bantams. They represent the ancestor of all our breeds of domestic poultry, and 

 when this and other facts of their life history are understood, they will always form the 

 centre of interest. 



The first and second generations become very tame, and may be trusted with 

 almost any other birds. Several of these birds were confined for a time in the large 

 flying cage in the New York Zoological Park, and they each sought a lofty limb as a 

 roost, forty feet or more from the ground. But when in a smaller enclosure they are 

 contented with a low perch. Their care is similar to that of pheasants. The young are 

 hardy and the hens may be trusted to brood and rear their own chicks. The adults 

 stand our northern winters well, with a slightly warmed shelter in which to roost 

 at night. 



The birds breed freely, laying about eight eggs each year, and the only difficulty 

 is in obtaining new blood. After several generations of inbreeding the birds increase 

 in size and white feathers appear here and there in the plumage. 



PEAFOWL 



Peacocks are so well known that it would seem superfluous to do more than 

 mention them, but judging from the large number of letters which I have received in 

 past years at the New York Zoological Park, with inquiries concerning the care of 

 these birds, their food and treatment are not familiar to many. 



