yS The Natural History of British Game Birds 
life both in Western America and British Columbia is very favourable to the birds, 
but many perish in exceptional winters, not from the cold, but from thirst, due to the 
pools and streams being frozen hard. 
Pheasants were introduced into Oregon in 1881, and have since increased until they 
are in large numbers in the forests of the States. Owing to equable climate, the abundance 
of insect life, and the dry, sandy nature of the soil, the females are said to rear successfully 
95 per cent, of their broods. The species is also fairly numerous in parts of New Zealand, 
especially in the neighbourhood of Auckland, and much interest is now being taken in 
acclimatising the new sub-species. There are also Pheasants in the island of St. Helena, 
introduced by the Portuguese as long ago as 15 13. Owing to isolation and gradual 
deterioration they are now almost a new sub-species. A few Pheasants are amongst the 
recent introductions to Australia. 
Mr. Henry Padwick kindly sends me the following references to Pheasants by 
Latin writers of the first century a.d. : — 
"In the Satyricon of Petronius (chap. 93), Eumolpus the poet says that, ' Pheasants sought 
in Colchis and guinea-fowls in Africa, please the palate because they are difficult to obtain ; ' 
and in chap. 119, that the river Phasis has already been stripped of its birds to supply Roman 
luxury. Petronius died 66 a.d. 
"Seneca {ad Helviam, chap. 10) also complains of the extravagance of the Romans in 
sending beyond the Phasis for these birds. Seneca died 65 a.d. 
"Suetonius tells us that the brains of Pheasants and peacocks were ingredients in the 
famous dish or pie of Vitellius. Vitellius died 69 a.d. 
" Pliny, in his Natural History (Lib. 10, chap. 48), mentions Pheasants as having two 
erect ears of feathers ; and elsewhere, of their being infested with lice, which kill them, unless 
they dust themselves well. Pliny died 79 a.d. 
"Martial — who wrote in Domitian's time — in his very pretty description of Faustinus' 
well-managed farm (Lib. 3, Ep. 58) tells us that Faustinus, in addition to ordinary poultry, 
had domesticated French partridges {Picta Perdix), guinea-fowls, and Pheasants. In Lib. 13, 
Ep. 45, Martial, sending some poultry to a friend, writes that he is sorry he could not send 
guinea-fowls or Pheasants. In Epigram 72 of the same book the Pheasant is made to say, ' I 
was first brought over here in an Argive ship — before that I knew no home but the Phasis.' 
This seems to allude to the mythical expedition of the Argonauts, and has no historical value. 
Domitian died 96 a.d. 
(The date of Martial's death is doubtful.) 
"These are, I believe, all the references to Pheasants by writers of the first century a.d., 
and from them we may conclude that Pheasants were well known in Rome from the middle 
of the first century, and were always scarce and dear." 
There seems to be no record of the first introduction of the Pheasant to these islands. 
Probably the sybaritic Romans, or even the earlier Phoenicians, brought the birds with 
other ornaments of a higher civilisation. In the excavations at Silchester, on the site of 
the old Roman-British town of Calleva {Car Segeint of the ancient British), Pheasant 
bones have been discovered, and this seems to be the earliest record we have of the 
presence of these birds in pre-Saxon times. 
Pheasants are mentioned in the bills of fare of the Saxon kings, and it was known 
as a naturalised species before the Norman invasion. The authority for this statement is 
