THE PHEASANT. 



99 



fails to show itself on the sudden and abrupt ap- 

 pearance of an object. I spent some months in trying 

 to overcome this timorous propensity in the pheasant; 

 but I failed completely in the attempt. The young 

 birds, which had been hatched under a domestic 

 hen, soon became very tame, and would even receive 

 food from the hand, when it was offered cautiously 

 to them. They would fly up to the window, and 

 would feed in company with the common poultry. 

 But, if any body approached them unawares, off 

 they went to the nearest cover with surprising ve- 

 locity. They remained in it till all was quiet, and 

 then returned with their usual confidence. Two of 

 them lost their lives in the water by the unexpected 

 appearance of a pointer, while the barn-door fowls 

 seemed scarcely to notice the presence of the in- 

 truder. The rest took finally to the woods at the 

 commencement of the breeding season. This par- 

 ticular kind of timidity^ which does not appear in 

 our domestic fowls, seems to me to oppose the only, 

 though at the same time an insurmountable, bar to 

 our final triumph over the pheasant. After attentive 

 observation, I can perceive nothing else in the habits 

 of the bird, to serve as a clue by which we may be 

 enabled to trace the cause of failure in the many 

 attempts which have been made to invite it to breed 

 in our yards, and retire to rest with the barn-door 

 fowl and turkey. 



Though a preserve of pheasants is an unpopular 

 thing, still I am satisfied in my own mind that the 

 bird cannot exist in this country without one ; at 

 the same time, I am aware that a preserve may be 

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