HE AS ANT. 
3 
of tliose wlio looked after them was a mystery we never solved. Neither the head keeper nor any of his 
assistants had previously seen this breed of dogs misbehaving themselves in sueh a manner, and during 
thirty years’ knoeking about in the British Islands since that time I have never met with a similar 
occurrence. 
I frequently remarked that cock Pheasants answer the reports of artillery or distant thunder by 
crowing loudly : in the woods about Catsfield they were particularly noisy on the afternoon of March 11, 1850, 
immediately after the blow-up of the Hounslow powder-mills. The birds continued uttering their calls 
for some time after the explosion, which was plainly heard, though the distance must have been over sixty 
miles. The weather happened to be particularly fine and still for that time of year, and this may possibly 
account for the fact of the sound heinff conveved so far. 
O e/ 
Pheasants when flying over water occasionally get as perplexed as Partridges, and on falling seldom 
succeed in reaching terra firma again, but perish by drowning. While Ashing on Ileigham Sounds on the 
21st of June, IS /I, a male and female (the latter in pursuit of the former) were noticed dashing rapidly 
over the water from one bank to another, the distance being about a quarter of a mile. The birds were 
soon lost sight of behind a high and widely spreading reed-bush ; hut a wherry passing a few minutes later, 
the owner called out to us that two Pheasants were swimming in an open pool among the reeds he had just 
sailed by and that they appeared unable to make the shore. As the fish Avere biting well we did not care 
to disturb the spot where the boats were brought up by moving, and took no more notice of the matter 
for the present. Later in the day, when the fish had ceased to feed after several hours’ good sport (a couple 
of perch weighing 3i lbs. and four 2| lbs., with many of smaller size, having been taken), we pulled in the 
direction indicated by the wherry-man and discovered both birds floating dead on the surface of the w^ater 
Anthin a short distance of each other. Other instances of these birds being picked up drowned on the 
Norfolk broads and meres have been reported by the natives ; the Partridges, however, that incur the same 
fate in this marshy district number at least ten to one compared with this species. 
While living at Ferrygate, near North Berwick in East Lothian, in 18G3, for the purpose of studying 
agriculture, I discovered a nest with sixteen eggs in the thick tangled grass in a small plantation of youn” 
trees only a short distance from our farm-house. The eggs evidently belonged to Pheasants and Partrid^^-es’ 
eac species having contributed about the same number ; for a week or more I visited the nest daily hut 
never identified the sitting bird. Unfortunately before she had hatched out the young I was obli-ed 
0 cave that part of the country for a few weeks, and could only ascertain on my return, by the mass 
of hioken shells, that the whole of the eggs had proved prolific. 
About thirty years ago a hen Pheasant selected a strange situation for her nest in the railway-cuttino- 
near Battle great wood, on the line between Tunbridge Wells and Hastings. An unusually large cavity 
by eratehing and Hien constructed the nest for her eggs. Utterly regardless of the deafening uproar caused 
y ^ ^ passing trams, she sat closely and in due course brought off her brood, having been carefully watched 
wring le time of incubation by the plate-layers constantly passing up and down the line, who were well 
acquainted with the position of the nest. 
