13 Pheasants. 



whether it is entirely suitable for turning away promis- 

 cuously. Although usually classed amongst the true 

 pheasants, there is but little doubt that authority will 

 sooner or later be found for excluding it from them. 

 It is a beautiful bird of almost entirely pheasant- 

 like appearance; the great length of tail, which some- 

 times extends to as much as 5ft., marks it as very 

 conspicuous ; whilst the body -colour ing is distinctly 

 ornate. The female is coloured in more sober fashion, 

 and does not possess nearly the same length of tail. 

 For the most part bred and reared in aviaries for 

 subsequent turning out, it has, however, been established 

 with a considerable amount of success upon some preserves, 

 notably in the North and in Scotland. As a game-bird 

 before the gun it has a good deal to recommend it, being 

 a strong and fast flyer. It is also of hardy constitution. 



One of the chief drawbacks attaching to these birds is 

 that they are uncertain and very poor layers, and will 

 suffer very little disturbance during nesting- and brooding- 

 time. They will, however, cross readily with ordinary 

 covert pheasants, the produce in the first instance usually 

 showing marked evidence of the cross. Unfortunately, 

 however, the produce cannot be relied upon, as eggs 

 resulting from a first cross are mainly unfertile, and those 

 from subsequent crosses almost entirely so. The chicks 

 resulting from any fertile eggs, even in the first cross, 

 are for the most part weakly, difficult to rear> and, of 

 course, rarely reach maturity. Altogether, Reeves' 

 Pheasant may be regarded as an entirely undesirable form 

 of cross with the ordinary breeds, whilst upon the other 

 hand its presence 'per se in coverts provides an exception- 

 ally welcome addition to the ordinary stock. In view of 

 the established fact that the cross is more or less sterile, 

 whether upon the male or female side, as between Reeves' 



