THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
once destroyed, for, like a man-eating tiger, the appetite grows with the 
indulgence of it. The brown owl is more mischievous, and so is the little 
owl, but the greatest pest of all are jackdaws, and these take a heavy 
toll unless precautions are taken in localities where they exist in numbers. 
Foxes need to be carefully guarded against or they may commit great 
havoc in a single night, and sometimes it is necessary to erect netting 
all round the field of such a height that they cannot jump over. Generally 
it is sufficient to provide a continual supply of rooks, or rabbits, in the 
vicinity of the earth if there is a litter of young cubs ; while two or more 
lamps should be lighted at night at either end of the rearing field, and 
an alarm gun be set with the wire close enough to the ground for a fox 
to run against it. “ Renardine,” and oil of tar are also useful for scaring 
foxes, though they will get accustomed to anything of the kind after 
a time. An excellent method is to run a long wire the whole length of the 
field, and attach a dog to it by a chain, so that it can travel up and down 
it, a barrel being placed somewhere along the line to serve for a kennel. 
Young pheasants should be removed to the coverts as soon as they are 
old enough to perch, and when all have been shifted, it is well to purify 
the field from all taint by the use of fire if, as is often the case, it is un- 
avoidably necessary to use the same field the following season. A rough 
day should be selected, when the wind will sweep the fire along quickly, 
so that the roots of the grasses do not get burned, and then the herbage 
has a chance of starting before the coming winter. The sooner, therefore, 
the burning is carried out the better. 
When in the coverts pheasants require to be generously fed to keep them 
at home, but even then they stray considerably, especially in a year when 
acorns and beech-mast are very plentiful, and they require to be con- 
stantly checked and headed back. Indian corn and barley are the staple 
foods ; the latter causes the flesh to be more delicate, and more highly 
appreciated when the birds come to table. All corn is more appetizing 
and nourishing if boiled, and if a pound of cheap treacle is put in the copper 
with the grain, it makes a very attractive mixture. When the grain has 
been cooked it should be allowed to cool in its own liquor, which it will 
largely absorb, and then not a drop will be wasted. Pheasants are fond 
also of raisins, the seeds of the sunflower, and especially of Jerusalem 
artichoke roots, in all of which they may be indulged; but perhaps the 
best “ non -straying mixture ” is the sprouted corn, which has been already 
described. When using it in the coverts an excellent plan is to scatter 
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