xliv 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 
which dace and perch abound, and from which a carp over three 
pounds in weight had been landed; while moorhens were some¬ 
times seen on the water, and in severe weather it had been 
frequented by wild ducks. On these farms, partridges, he said, 
were plentiful. In the mornings they repair to the stubble, grass 
fields, and hedge-sides, which they leave for the shelter of clover, 
turnip, and potato fields during mid-day, returning again towards 
evening to their feeding-grounds. At night they generally lodge 
in the middle of a field for security, lying in a cluster with their 
heads outwards. Like many other birds, and to an especial degree, 
they use devices, such as feigning to be dead, to entice supposed 
enemies away from their nest. They are supposed to pair for 
life. They are strong and quick in flight, gradually rising to a 
little height and then flying off in a direct course with a loud 
“whirr,” the effect of the rapid pulsation of their wings. The 
green fields adjacent to the woods, Mr. White continued, are 
peculiarly adapted to the breeding of pheasants. Eggs being 
supplied from pheasantries about the 1st of May, fowls anxious to 
sit are procured, each is placed on from sixteen to twenty eggs, 
and in from twenty-four to twenty-six days the eggs cracked and 
the little pheasants began to creep through. When two days old 
they and their foster-parents are removed to a coop on a sunny 
meadow and fed six times a day on oatmeal, rice, eggs, etc., and 
as the birds grow they gradually leave the hens and wander into 
the nearest wood, where they are supplied with maize and wheat. 
As soon as the eggs are laid the male pheasant deserts the hen, 
and she alone has the rearing of the young. 
On the conclusion of Mr. White’s remarks, of which the above 
is only a brief summary, the Home Wood was explored, the pond 
in it affording specimens to the microscopists, and the botanists 
finding in flower large patches of the daffodil, and the adoxa, wood- 
anemone, ground-ivy, and other plants. 
In a tent erected near Beech Cottage, tea was then provided by 
Mr. White, to whom a vote of thanks was accorded on the 
proposition of Mr. Hopkinson, seconded by Dr. Morison. 
The following species of Mosses were found in the Home Wood 
by Mr. A. E. Gibbs, E.L.S. 
Acrocarpi. 
Dicranella heteromalla , Hedw. 
Barbula muralis, L. 
Geratodon purpureus , L. 
Orthotrichum Lyellii , H. & T. 
Mnium punctatum , Hedw. 
Atrichum undulatum, L. 
Amphocarpi. 
Fissidens bryoides , Hedw. 
Pleuro CARPI. 
Nechera complanata, L. 
Thuidium tamariscinum , Hedw. 
Thamnium alopecurum , L. 
Homalothecium sericeum, L. 
Brachythecium rutabulum, L. • 
Eurhynchium striatum, Schreb. 
,, piliferum, Scbreb. 
,, prcelongum., Dill. 
Bhynchostegium confer turn, Dicks. 
Amblystegia serpens , L. 
„ riparium , L. 
Hypnum cupressiforme , L. 
„ „ var. fliforme , Dry. 
Eur. 
„ cuspidatum , L. 
,, purum, L. 
Hylocomium squarrosum, L. 
„ triquetrum , L. 
