296 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Apml 11, 1896. 
worth about $10 apiece if guaranteed to be any good. I 
never bad any experience raising ruffed grouse, but 
remember my father several times hatched out pinnated 
grouse eggs (prairie chicken) under domestic hens. They 
came out a-running, and were the eagerest things to go 
wild, starve, drown and die on general principles ever 
anybody saw. I should think ruffed grouse raising 
would be more grief in a short while than a man could 
get any other way; but this is not founded on actual ex- 
periment. What does anybody know about it, for our 
Arkansas friend? 
Vacation Days. 
To any one needing quiet and rest I can recommend the 
city of New York. It is a nice seaside place with good 
air. You can get horses and wagons at reasonable rates, 
and the fishing near by is excellent. I have been going 
there for quite a while on my annual vacations, and am 
just back trom my trip there this spring, which my doc- 
tor said I ought to take. I feel much rested and re- 
freshed. Of course, a fellow gets a good deal pulled down 
by the hurry and drive of Chicago life, and the best of 
men must have an occasional change of scene. New York 
is just the place. The sport with clams and lobsters is not 
surpassed, especially on the spring run. The pie bakery 
is still there, and the woman who makes ice cream has 
put in two new flavors this year. When you want to 
rest and catch step with your regular habits, go to New 
York. E. Hough. 
909 Security Building, Chicago, III. 
REARING MONGOLIAN PHEASANTS. 
IN the annual report of the Massachusetts Fish and 
Game Commission, Mr. E. A. Brackett gives full instruc- 
tions for the breeding of pheasants as successfully prac- 
ticed by him at the State pheasantry. For the benefit of 
others who are engaged in a similar enterprise we give 
that part of the report in full: 
The Aviary. 
The aviary may be built in almost any shape to suit the 
taste of the owner. It should have, however, not less 
than 144 square feet of ground room for a quartet of birds. 
As the success in breeding depends largely on the health 
and vigor of the breeding birds, it is well to have dupli- 
cate apartments, where the birds can be turned in, in 
April, and the ground in the old one strewn with phos- 
phates, spaded well, sown with herdsgrass and clover 
seed, and allowed to remain until the 1st of September, 
when they can be returned and No. 2 be made ready in 
the same way for occupancy in the spring. Unless the 
aviary is very large, this rotation is necessary in order to 
raise good stock, as it keeps the ground in healthy condi- 
tion and provides much good food for the pheasants. 
As a matter of convenience and economy, it is desirable 
to build the aviaries in groups. The ground should be 
dry and a little sloping, that heavy rains may run off 
freely. I built one as follows : measured off a piece of land 
24ft. square, set posts at the corners and along the lines, 
sawed off even with the ground; made frames of 2x2Ln. 
joists, 12ft. long and 6£ft. wide; boarded the lower part 
2£ft. closely, and covered the upper part with wire net- 
ting, 2in. mesh. Twelve of these frames were made, set 
upon the posts and fastened together with rag screws, giv- 
ing four apartments, each 12 ft. square. On the side of 
each I built a small projection 3ft. wide, 2ft. high and 6ft. 
long, top covered with waterproof paper, and opening 
into the aviary. This was for giving dry earth to dust in, 
and for shelter if they chose to take advantage of it — 
which they rarely do, however, preferring to remain out 
in the roughest weather day and night. 
Those who breed English pheasants do not cover the top 
of the aviary, but prevent them from flying over, by clip- 
ping one wing. This would not always be safe with the 
Mongolian. I have repeatedly seen a Mongolian cock, 
with a close-cropped wing, fly up, strike the wire netting, 
and with feet and wings climb to the top, and, had it not 
been covered, would have escaped. 
I made my roof by making frames 12ft. long by 4ft. 
wide, of 2in. strips of board, with a 2x2in. joist length- 
wise through the center, crowning the laths, which were 
laid across the frame 2in. apart, and nailed to the sides 
and center. Three of these frames or sections were re- 
quired for ep,ch apartment, and by running a joist across 
the middle of each apartment, supported by a post under 
the center, it makes a roof sufficiently strong to resist any 
weight of snow likely to fall upon it. 
I dug a trench at the bottom, 1ft. deep, and set boards 
close together and nailed them to the base, and then filled 
in with rubble stone and covered with earth, making it 
vermin proof. Roofing slate would answer much better 
than boards, as it would not decay. 
As the Mongolian pheasant lays from sixty to eighty 
eggs a season, two or three aviaries would give all the 
eggs a beginner would care to handle the first year. 
Food for the Breeding Pheasants. 
Pheasants, like the turkey, prairie chicken and quail, 
will be found in the spring, summer and autumn in pas- 
tures where there are low bushes, in grass lands, in fields 
of growing crops and in meadows near running streams. 
I hey feed on green food, bugs, worms and insects of 
every description. In winter their food is scrub oak 
acorns, barberries, haws of the wild rose, berries of the 
privet, moss, found on trees and stumps, grass seed and 
such evergreen food as they can find. It is not known 
whether they feed on buds or not. 
In confinement feed them on wheat, cracked corn, 
scalded Indian meal with a little fine-ground beef scraps 
and a dash of cayenne pepper mixed in, barley, buck- 
wheat and chopped cabbage. Feed no more than thev 
will eat up clean, and keep fresh water, ground ovster 
shells and sand. by them. J 
About the first of March withheld the Indian meal and 
cracked corn, and feed with cabbage, lettuce and grain 
~~ . ? r f hort allow *nce, for if the birds get too fat it 
will interfere with their laying. All birds and animals 
indigenous to this climate come into the breeding season 
reduced m flesh. 
. Put evergreen boughs up against the sides of the coop 
in several places for the pheasants to run und^r. In con- 
finement they seldom lay in nests, but drop their eggs 
morning and evening, promiscuously over the yard. Thev 
must be gathered up at once, packed in cotton and set 
away in a, cool place. They will keep two or three weeks, 
but it is better to set them as soon as possible after they 
are laid. As the pheasants sometimes eat their eggs, it is 
well to keep a few glass eggs in the yard, whern they can 
peck them if they are so inclined. 
Brooding Hens. 
Pheasants can be reared with more or less success under 
any small hen; none, however, can compare with the 
bantams, and of these the Pekin is by far the best. No 
one intending to raise pheasants should be without a full 
supply of these patient, gentle little mothers. 
Keep the bantams in a yard and coop by themselves, 
with plenty of room to dust. Everything should be done 
to keep them free from lice, as they are sure death to 
young pheasants. The following treatment, so far as I 
have been able to test it, has worked to my entire satisfac- 
tion: put ilb. of bar soap in two quarts of water and boil 
until entirely dissolved, then take it out of doors and add 
two quarts of kerosene. Churn it with a hand pump five 
or ten minutes or until it is thoroughly mixed, then set it 
away in a cool place and it will keep good for several 
months. Six or eight weeks before the hens are wanted 
for sitting, put half a pint of the mixture into a pail and 
pour in hot water to dissolve it; add one quart of naphtha, 
churn well together, fill up the pail with water, and 
about 4 P. M. syringe every part of the hen house, driving 
the liquid into every crack and crevice with the force 
pump. When the hens go to roost shut the house up 
tight. This had better be repeated several times during 
the season. To make it doubly sure, when setting the 
bantams rub some of the mixture with the fingers under 
the wings and on the neck of the hen, and saturate a piece 
of cloth or sponge and put it in one corner of the coop. 
Arrangements for Hatching. 
Make a. box without top or bottom, 20in. long, 14in. 
wide, 20 in. deep at one end and 14 at the other. At the 
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bottom of the deepest end cut an opening Sin. square, 
fitted with a slide so that it can be shut at pleasure. Cut 
a slot 3x6in. on each side of the box, and cover it with 
iin. mesh wire netting, to give air to the hen and chicks. 
Cover the bottom with lin. mesh netting, nailed firmly 
on. Make two frames for covers the size of the top; cover 
one with wire netting, 2in. mesh, and the other with 
waterproof paper. Put a cleat on the box, so that one or 
both covers can be used. Paint the box inside and outside 
with paraffine varnish, or, if that cannot be had, with 
coal tar mixed with air-slacked lime. The odor of either 
will drive away any insects without injury to hen or 
chicks. 
For the yard make frames 4x4ft. and 2ft. high, of 2in. 
strips of board, cover two sides with iin. wire netting, 
one end with laths nailed on perpendicularly, 2in. apart, 
and the other end with laths nailed close together; at 
the bottom of this end, near the center of the frame, cut 
an opening 8in. square; set the frame close to the coop, so 
that the hen and chicks can pass freely from one to the 
other. For the top of the yard make two frames, one 
3x4ft. and one lX4ft , and cover both with 2in. mesh 
wire netting. Fasten the large one on and leave the 
smaller one movable. Place on sloping ground if possible 
and dig a small trench at the upper end to turn the water 
aside. 
Cut a sod the size of the box and.2io. thick, and remove 
some of the earth from the roots near one end in the 
shape of a nest. Lay it in the box, grass side up, with the 
nest at the upper end, and with a mallet or stick of wood 
pound the nest into shape, and put a little fine hay or 
chaff in it. A nest made in this way will not become 
damp nor allow the eggs to roll out. Put glass eggs in the 
nest, and at night set the hen. Put plenty of food and 
water in the yard, and the next day open the slMe so that 
she can go out to feed. If she returns to the nest, all 
right; the glass eggs can be removed at night, and pheasant 
eggs put under her. If she does not return, put her on 
the nest and try her again. 
It requires about twenty four days to hatch pheasant 
eggs. Look after them occasionally when the hen is off, 
and if any eggs are broken remove them, or if any are 
soiled cleanse them with warm water and a soft cloth or 
sponge. With Pekin bantams for brooders broken or 
soiled eggs are seldom found. Always be sure that the 
box is closed at night. When the chicks are due remove 
the food from the yard and put some in the box, and shut 
it so that the young pheasants cannot escape. As soon as 
they are all hatched lift the hen gently and remove the 
egg shells. This should be done with care not to frighten 
the chicks, and if any run out put them back under the 
hen. Persons whose experience has been confined to the 
English pheasant will find a marked difference in handling 
the Mongolian. 
Food and Care of Young Pheasants. 
Now comes the most difficult part of the work, for 
young pheasants, like young turkeys, are for the first two 
or three weeks very tender and hard to raise unless 
properly fed and cared for. There are a few rules that 
cannot be departed from without serious results. First, 
never allow the young birds, for the first two or three 
weeks, to get chilled, as it is almost certain death to them. 
Do not give any food for the first thirty-six hours, and 
little or no water for the first week unless the weather is 
very hot and dry. See that they are all in their coops at 
night and shut up. 
After the first thirty-six hours feed a little at a time, 
several times a day, maggots if they can be had, if not 
custard, made without sugar and thickened with corn meal 
and finely chopped lettuce. Stir a very little meat crissel 
or finely ground beef scraps into the custard. When the 
birds are allowed to run out to forage the lettuce may be 
omitted. When they are three or four weeks old feed 
a little cracked corn and wheat, well soaked or scalded, 
increasing the amount as they grow older. 
In their wild state young pheasants get very little food 
for the first two or three weeks, and it consists of small 
bugs, worms and insects, with more or less sand and a 
little green food. If we judge by the size of the broods, 
the wild mother pheasant brings up nearly all of her 
chicks. 
As it is not possible to obtain to any considerable extent 
the same conditions which surround them in fields and 
woods, breeders have adopted various ways of feeding. 
We give below some of these methods: 
Judge Denny, of Oregon, who so successfully intro- 
duced them into that State, bred them, while Consul to 
Shanghai, feeding them on ant eggs, a material not to be 
had in any quantity here. 
English breeders feed on hard-boiled eggs and rice, al- 
lowing them to run out in inclosed grass land to forage 
for insects and green food. 
Mr. Lownsdale, Lafayette, Ore., feeds on the custard 
• without sugar, mixed with corn meal and lettuce, and a 
daily ration of crickets, until they are about 4 weeks old, 
and they are taught to eat wheat. 
Mr. E. A. Stiles, game warden for the Liberty Hill Club, 
Connecticut, and a successful breeder of English pheas- 
ants, writes: "My birds begin to lay about April 25. The 
number of eggs that a single bird will produce in a sea- 
son varies from fifteen to forty. No nests are required, 
aB they drop their eggs at random. The eggs should be 
gathered as soon as laid, as otherwise the birds may 
acquire the habit of eating them. In regard to rearing 
the most important thing is to keep the chicks dry. 
Until they are a month or six weeks old it is death to 
them to run in wet grass. For the first few days I feed 
the young pheasants on custard cooked over a slow fire, 
also maggots and ant eggs if I can get them. I think 
your way of obtaining maggots an excellent one. I find 
that a little meat crissel goes a good way. Too much will 
give the birds dysentery — a very dangerous disease. 
Neither do I advise feeding too many maggots. Millet, 
canary and hemp seed may be given with the custard, 
also chopped lettuce, cabbage and onions. When the 
birds are a month old some wheat and cracked corn, 
soaked soft, may be given. The chicks should always be 
confined with the hen until they learn her call and then 
they may be given their liberty until they are several 
weeks; then, if they are to be kept under control, they 
should be put into a covered coop. Old birds lay better 
than young ones." 
Mr. W. L. Gardiner, of Norwalk, O., a sportsman and 
breeder of pheasants, says: "I feed on maggots until six 
or eight weeks old — no grain or other food of any kind. 
I raise the maggots on beef's liver, hung in barrels with 
about 3in. of bran on the bottom, kept moist. Do not 
feed until the maggots are well grown. Never feed the 
young pheasants until they are 24 hours old, and feed the 
old hen corn as well, as if she eats too many maggots 
they will kill her. Keep livers enough to have plenty at 
all times. Set barrels in a partially shaded place and 
cover the top partially. The meat will be alive in three 
days, but not fit to feed for six days or more. The chicks 
must also have soft food, something easily digested, not 
constipating nor too loosening. They will stand any 
weather, but must be kept fed." Mr. Gardiner states that 
he raises 90 per cent, of his birds. 
From the above statements it will be seen that various 
methods are recommended for feeding young pheasants, 
all of which are claimed to be more or less successful. 
In the beginning of the breeding season, 1895, not hav- 
ing my arrangements completed for raising maggots, the 
first young pheasants were fed on hard-boiled eggs and 
custard thickened with Indian meal. However successful 
this may be in rearing English pheasants, it failed with 
the Mongolian, and we had the misfortune to see the 
coop3 strewn with dead birds. As soon as we were able 
to feed with maggots the death rate ceased, and scarce a 
half dozen birds were lost from feeding or disease of any 
kind. The method pursued was so simple and so success- 
ful that it may be of value to those who are interested in 
raising these birds. 
The yards, coop3 and nests were made as heretofore 
described. Too much care cannot be given to the con- 
struction of the nest. If rightly made, the outer eggs 
will receive as much warmth from the hen as those in 
the center, and all will hatch at about the same time. 
This is very important, if you expect to have healthy 
birds. From thirteen to fifteen eggs were placed under 
each bantam, and in more than half the sittings every 
egg hatched, and the time between the hatching of the 
first and last eggs did not usually exceed three or four 
hours. 
Most of the hens used for sitters were game bantams, 
and they made very good mothers, but were nervous and 
cruel to young birds belonging to other broods that strayed 
into their yards. In this way a considerable number 
were killed after they were three or four weeks old. 
When the coops and yards are made alike and placed 
near each other, this loss is likely to occur; and when it 
is possible to obtain Pekin bantams they should be used 
