Practical Game-Preserving. 14 



Pheasant and any other species, it is obvious that where it 

 is held desirable or opportune to introduce these birds into 

 British coverts, they should be bred and reared in separate 

 aviaries, and be either limited, as far as possible, to 

 separate coverts or be killed down annually. Not only 

 do they produce largely unfertile eggs with resulting sterile 

 offspring, but they contaminate the hens of other breeds, 

 and render them sterile. 



It would appear, from the information offered, that 

 Reeves' Pheasant is not a true pheasant; this is made 

 fairly evident from the above facts. There is nothing of 

 the kind forthcoming in regard to any other of the true 

 pheasants of new species crossed with the old. The 

 probability is that Reeves' Pheasant is more akin to the 

 Gallinacece than to the Phasianidce. 



Inasmuch as I am mainly concerned in these pages in 

 dealing with what is rather than what might be, I am com- 

 pelled to leave to one side the consideration of the possi- 

 bilities attaching to several species and pseudo-species of 

 pheasants claimed to be suitable for introduction in British 

 coverts. With many of these the fancier or naturalist 

 preserver is more concerned than the game-preserver. 

 Perhaps the best result will be achieved by eliminating in 

 the first instance those pheasants using the term in its 

 widest sense which have been tried and found wanting 

 from the practical preserver's point of view, and then 

 dealing with those which have proved their merit. Of 

 the really true pheasants, the Persian Pheasant (Phasianus 

 persicus), the Siberian Pheasant (P. taritnensis), and 

 Talisch's Pheasant (P. talischensis) must be at once put 

 to one side, for although interesting enough as new species, 

 they are much too close to our original stock of colchicus 

 to render it worth while crossing them with it. In other 

 words, we have in the true-bred, old English bird so-called, 



