100 



THE PHEASANT. 



overdone. Thus^ when pheasants are reserved for a 

 day of slaughter, under the appellation of a battu^ 

 the regular supply of the market is endangered, the 

 diversion has the appearance of cruelty, and ncv 

 good end seems to be answered. It exposes the 

 preservers of pheasants in general to the animad- 

 versions of an angry press, which are greedily read, 

 and long remembered, by those whose situation in 

 life precludes them from joining in the supposed 

 diversion. However ardently 1 may wish to protect 

 the pheasant in an ornithological point of view, — • I 

 say ornithological, for its flesh I heed not, — still, T 

 am fully aware, that the danger to be incurred and 

 the odium to be borne are mighty objections. We 

 read, that the ancients sacrificed a cock to ^scu- 

 lapius : perhaps the day is at no great distance, 

 when it will be considered an indispensable act of 

 prudence for the country gentleman to offer up his 

 last hecatomb of pheasants at the shrine of public 

 opinion. 



The more we look into the habits of the j)heasant, 

 the more we must be persuaded that much greater 

 attention ought to be paid to it than is generally paid 

 to other kinds of game. The never-failing morning 

 and evening notice which it gives of its place of re- 

 treat, together with its superior size, cause it to be 

 soon detected and easily killed. The tax, too, which 

 government has put upon it, enhances its value as 

 an indispensable delicacy at the tables of those who 

 give good cheer. In fact, few are the autumnal 

 and winter dinners of the wealthy, where a roasted 

 pheasant does not grace the second course. The 



