Practical Game -Pre serving. 28 



large number of birds with some friendly preserver whose 

 estate is situate in a distant county. Possibly he may also 

 desire a change of blood in his birds, hence the transaction 

 would be mutually desirable. In purchasing fresh birds 

 some discrimination is necessary. Tame or semi-domesti- 

 cated birds are not worth much as a rule, and there is 

 nothing like a good healthy lot of carefully caught up 

 wild birds. Moreover, it is always preferable to have an 

 equal number of cock and hen pheasants, in place of the 

 usually recommended lot of cock birds only. The best 

 time of year to turn these birds down is at the end of 

 February or beginning of March, six weeks or a month 

 after the shooting season closes. They will then have 

 time to settle down before mating time comes on. At 

 first they will require specially feeding a little, but it is 

 best to let them eventually find their way with the rest, 

 and so spread well about. 



One of the greatest aids to a natural increase of birds 

 is thorough elimination of all kinds of vermin from the 

 coverts. It has always been a maxim with preservers 

 that " to kill vermin is to breed game " ; and unless all 

 furred and feathered vermin is well killed down, there is 

 no chance of maintaining a stock of pheasants, much less 

 increasing it. Poaching, of course, must be kept down, 

 and not only actual night poaching, but the systematic 

 robbery of birds and eggs which will obtain if the 

 preserver does not properly look after his coverts. 



A more extended consideration of these several points 

 must, however, be left over for the present. Suffice it 

 that what may be described as the preliminary steps 

 necessary to the establishing and maintenance of a head 

 of pheasants upon modest conditions have been dealt with 

 and made clear. 



