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 no 
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 I may wish to protect 
the pheasant in an ornithological point of view, — I 
say ornithological, for its flesh I heed not, — still, I 
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 iEscu- 
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 pheasant, 
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 ifto 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 
