﻿88 
  A 
  MONOGRAPH 
  OF 
  THE 
  PHEASANTS 
  

  

  always 
  water 
  to 
  the 
  depth 
  of 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  feet. 
  These 
  swampy 
  localities 
  afford 
  good 
  

   shelter. 
  In 
  the 
  mornings 
  and 
  evenings 
  the 
  pheasants 
  leave 
  it 
  for 
  the 
  more 
  open 
  and 
  

   dry 
  country, 
  where 
  they 
  pick 
  up 
  their 
  food. 
  I 
  believe 
  the 
  same 
  species 
  is 
  found 
  on 
  the 
  

   Hari-rud 
  river, 
  but 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  no 
  specimens 
  from 
  that 
  locality." 
  

  

  The 
  Prince 
  of 
  Wales's 
  Pheasant 
  has 
  been 
  introduced 
  successfully 
  into 
  England, 
  

   where 
  it 
  has 
  done 
  well 
  both 
  in 
  the 
  Zoo 
  and 
  in 
  shooting 
  preserves. 
  In 
  Tegetmeier's 
  

   " 
  Pheasants," 
  Colonel 
  Sunderland 
  tells 
  of 
  his 
  experiences 
  with 
  this 
  form. 
  " 
  I 
  first 
  tried 
  

   the 
  importation 
  of 
  eggs, 
  but 
  they 
  proved 
  a 
  dismal 
  and 
  costly 
  failure. 
  In 
  the 
  autumn 
  of 
  

   1902 
  I 
  went 
  to 
  the 
  East, 
  and 
  succeeded 
  in 
  securing 
  several 
  birds. 
  No 
  one 
  could 
  

   positively 
  inform 
  me 
  whether 
  this 
  species 
  of 
  pheasant 
  was 
  polygamous 
  or 
  not, 
  1 
  ' 
  so 
  I 
  

   brought 
  to 
  England 
  an 
  equal 
  number 
  of 
  cocks 
  and 
  hens. 
  A 
  useless 
  precaution, 
  for 
  the 
  

   cocks 
  fought 
  for 
  the 
  hens 
  in 
  the 
  usual 
  manner. 
  The 
  birds 
  stood 
  the 
  long 
  journey 
  

   very 
  well, 
  and 
  were 
  turned 
  down 
  into 
  large 
  enclosures 
  in 
  Hampshire 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  

   February, 
  1903. 
  They 
  did 
  not 
  begin 
  to 
  lay 
  till 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  April, 
  but 
  laid 
  very 
  freely, 
  

   those 
  in 
  one 
  pen 
  averaging 
  over 
  thirty 
  eggs 
  a 
  hen. 
  Virtually 
  all 
  the 
  eggs 
  proved 
  fertile. 
  

   They 
  hatched 
  extremely 
  well, 
  and 
  the 
  strong 
  chicks 
  proved 
  fully 
  as 
  easy 
  to 
  rear 
  as 
  those 
  

   from 
  the 
  ordinary 
  pheasant. 
  They 
  were 
  fed 
  on 
  custard 
  and 
  oatmeal, 
  etc., 
  as 
  recommended 
  

   by 
  Tegetmeier. 
  They 
  were 
  brought 
  up 
  in 
  fields 
  of 
  standing 
  corn 
  and 
  buckwheat, 
  

   surrounded 
  by 
  wire 
  fences 
  ten 
  feet 
  high, 
  and 
  the 
  farmyard 
  hens 
  employed* 
  as 
  foster- 
  

   mothers 
  were 
  at 
  large 
  in 
  these 
  fields. 
  The 
  birds 
  were 
  pinioned 
  when 
  five 
  days 
  old. 
  

   I 
  wanted 
  them 
  to 
  be 
  able 
  to 
  fly 
  a 
  little, 
  and 
  severed 
  the 
  wing 
  joint 
  with 
  scissors, 
  so 
  

   as 
  to 
  leave 
  them 
  with 
  two 
  flight 
  feathers. 
  This 
  has 
  proved 
  a 
  costly 
  blunder, 
  for 
  with 
  

   only 
  those 
  two 
  flight 
  feathers 
  the 
  birds 
  could 
  fly 
  over 
  the 
  ten 
  feet 
  of 
  wire 
  with 
  the 
  

   greatest 
  ease. 
  It 
  was 
  quite 
  a 
  business 
  to 
  catch 
  them 
  in 
  October, 
  when 
  I 
  moved 
  into 
  

   Sussex, 
  and 
  indeed 
  I 
  left 
  several 
  birds 
  in 
  the 
  woods 
  of 
  Conholt 
  Park. 
  Before 
  turning 
  

   them 
  down 
  in 
  Sussex 
  I 
  removed 
  the 
  two 
  flight 
  feathers 
  from 
  each 
  bird, 
  but 
  despite 
  all 
  

   precautions, 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  birds 
  still 
  fly 
  over 
  the 
  wire. 
  In 
  shooting 
  my 
  woods 
  several 
  

   were 
  seen, 
  and 
  two 
  were 
  shot, 
  being 
  mistaken 
  for 
  ordinary 
  wild 
  birds, 
  so 
  well 
  did 
  they 
  

   fly. 
  Each 
  pen 
  consists 
  of 
  several 
  acres 
  of 
  wood, 
  pasture, 
  and 
  arable 
  land, 
  which 
  will 
  be 
  

   sown 
  with 
  corn 
  and 
  buckwheat. 
  Only 
  five 
  hens 
  and 
  one 
  (unrelated) 
  cock 
  run 
  to 
  the 
  

   acre, 
  therefore 
  this 
  breed 
  of 
  pheasant 
  should 
  remain 
  free 
  from 
  all 
  civilized 
  diseases. 
  

   I 
  may 
  mention 
  that 
  I 
  have 
  noticed 
  that 
  the 
  birds 
  are 
  extremely 
  fond 
  of 
  the 
  flower 
  of 
  the 
  

   common 
  charlock." 
  

  

  The 
  Mero 
  oasis 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  wonderful, 
  if 
  not 
  the 
  largest 
  in 
  Asia, 
  and 
  owes 
  

   its 
  richness 
  to 
  the 
  Murghab 
  River. 
  This, 
  instead 
  of 
  being 
  " 
  the 
  fairest 
  of 
  all 
  streams," 
  

   as 
  it 
  is 
  called 
  in 
  Lalla 
  Rookh, 
  is, 
  so 
  Curtis 
  tells 
  us, 
  "a 
  muddy 
  turgid 
  river, 
  the 
  colour 
  of 
  

   poor 
  coffee, 
  flowing 
  in 
  a 
  channel 
  of 
  brown 
  clay, 
  between 
  high 
  banks 
  which 
  cave 
  in 
  every 
  

   year 
  during 
  high 
  water 
  and 
  always 
  are 
  likely 
  to 
  crumble. 
  In 
  the 
  spring 
  months, 
  when 
  

   the 
  snow 
  is 
  melting 
  in 
  the 
  mountains, 
  the 
  Murghab 
  is 
  a 
  terrible 
  torrent, 
  tearing 
  its 
  way 
  

   through 
  the 
  desert 
  with 
  irresistible 
  force. 
  In 
  the 
  fall 
  of 
  the 
  year, 
  exhausted 
  by 
  those 
  

   exertions, 
  emaciated 
  by 
  evaporation 
  and 
  the 
  demands 
  of 
  the 
  irrigation 
  canals, 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  

   sullen, 
  stagnant, 
  unwholesome 
  stream. 
  The 
  annual 
  overflow 
  usually 
  covers 
  the 
  low 
  

   places 
  in 
  the 
  valley 
  with 
  water, 
  which 
  remains 
  in 
  stagnant 
  ponds 
  after 
  the 
  flood 
  recedes, 
  

   and 
  slowly 
  evaporates, 
  leaving 
  slimy 
  acres 
  of 
  decaying 
  vegetation 
  to 
  poison 
  the 
  air." 
  

   It 
  is 
  among 
  such 
  surroundings 
  that 
  the 
  Prince 
  of 
  Wales's 
  Pheasant 
  lives, 
  and 
  will 
  

  

  