Practical Game-Preserving. 18 



any hand of, must be bred in aviaries or pens and be 

 turned away season after season, if they be intended to 

 provide a feature of the quarry of the preserve. Practi- 

 cally all of them are of polygamous habit, but many 

 cannot be relied upon for more than one hen, even of their 

 own species, but this disability cannot be said to apply to 

 any extent to Lady Amherst's Pheasant (P. amherstice) 

 or Scemmerring's Pheasant (P. soemmerringi). These 

 two latter are both very beautiful birds, and are suitable 

 for crossing with the ordinary breeds; but they are 

 better when bred by themselves and turned away. The 

 latter, known also as the Copper Pheasant, is a first-class 

 sporting bird, and hardy, whilst the same may be said of 

 the Golden (Chrysolophus foetus) and the Silver Pheasants 

 (Euplocamus nycthemerus), though they do not provide 

 the same mark as Scemmerring's or crosses from it. 

 Impeyans, Monauls, Tragopans, and Elliot's Pheasant. 

 P. ellioti) will also do well enough in covert when turned 

 away, but it is necessary to regard most of these as fancy 

 pheasants, suited well enough to fulfil exceptional require- 

 ments, but of no great practical value to the ordinary pre- 

 server. Wherever the preserve may be of a park-like 

 character, or contains park lands, these pheasants may be 

 turned to much advantage, both for purposes of sport and as 

 a special means of adornment for lands of the character 

 named. It is only possible to maintain a moderate head 

 of birds upon them, and, as a rule, the character of such 

 woodlands is more suited to the peculiarities of most of 

 these fancy species than are the closer and wilder ones 

 which constitute the main pheasant coverts. The value of 

 these fancy birds is, too, considerably higher, and it is 

 not, as a rule, within the means of the ordinary preserver 

 to extend his desires to such rather expensive luxuries. 

 It is, of course, necessary to maintain the parent stock 



