IN CAPTIVITY IN LOWER BENGAL. 335 



desirous of forwarding the various species to England, are reprinted 

 in Mr. Tegetmeier's book on pheasants, and are here transcribed in 

 extenso : — 



Instructions for the transport of Pheasants and other 

 Gallinaceous Birds. 



1. For exportation, birds bred or reared in captivity should if 

 possible, be procured. But if this cannot be done, the following rules 

 should be attended to as regards wild caught birds. 



2. As soon as the birds are captured, the feathers of one wing and 

 of the tail should be cut off tolerably close to their base. The birds 

 should be placed in a room lighted only from a skylight above and 

 having the floor sprinkled with gravel or sand mixed with tufts of grass 

 and roots and a little earth. Among these the food should be thrown. 

 A tame bird placed with the wild ones is of great advantage, because this 

 bird will induce the new captives to feed. The birds should be kept in 

 this, way until they have become tame and are fit to be transferred to 

 the packing case. 



3. The food should consist of grain and seeds of various kinds 

 berries, fruit, insects, green food (such as cabbage, lettuce, &c), bread 

 or soaked biscuit, chopped meat, boiled eggs, &c. 



4. Travelling cages are most conveniently made of an oblong 

 shape divided into compartments about 18 inches square, and not 

 higher than just sufficient to allow the birds to stand upright in them. 

 They should be boarded all round, except in front, where strong wire 

 netting may be employed, although, if the birds are at all wild, wooden 

 bars, close enough to prevent the inmates from escaping between them, 

 are preferable. 



5. Every compartment should have the top on the inside padded 

 with canvas, as, if this is not done, the birds are very liable to injure 

 their heads by jumping upwards. 



6. A moveable feeding trough should be fixed along the front of 

 each compartment. One-third of this should be lined with tin, pitch, or 

 otherwise made to hold water ; the remaining two-thirds will hold the 

 food. 



7. Coarse sand or gravel should be kept strewn on the bottom of 

 the cages, and a supply of this should be sent along with the birds as it 

 is necessary to them for the healthy digestion of their food. 



8. The front of the cage should have a piece of coarse canvas to let 

 down as a blind to keep the birds quiet, and in order to give them air 

 round holes should be bored at the back of the box in the upper 

 part. 



9. The box should be cleaned out when the birds are fed, through 

 the opening in front made by removing the feeding trough, care 

 being taken that this opening is not wide enough to let the birds 



10. In order to supply the birds with green food during the voyage 

 a few small trays (the same as are used to hold the sand or gravel) niav 

 be sown with seed, such as rape, mustard, or any quick- growing veo-e- 

 table. The green food thus produced should be cut for them from time 

 to time and the sand and roots afterwards thrown into the cages. 



