376 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
May, 1913 
in order to keep out marauders who might reach the birds by burrowing. 
Thousands of pheasants are being imported by Americans, and other 
thousands are being raised in this country. The 
elegance and beauty of these birds make a strong 
appeal. It is also well known, of course, 
that they are the delight of epicureans: 
in several states large num¬ 
bers have been liberated, in 
the hope that they would mul¬ 
tiply and add to the decreas¬ 
ing list of game birds. 
The pheasant most common¬ 
ly and most successfully reared 
in the United States is the Chi¬ 
nese Ring-necked pheasant. 
No doubt the English bird, 
also imported largely, is 
a descendant of the Chi¬ 
nese Ring-neck, but it is 
not considered quite so 
hardy as the Oriental 
pheasant. The bird often 
called the Mongolian 
pheasant is really a Ring- 
neck pheasant. The Ring- 
necks lay more eggs than 
most of the other sorts— 
often as many as 60 — and 
as a rule they have a high 
percentage of fertility. 
From the standpoint of 
fine feathers, the Golden, 
Pheasants are as brilliant as peacocks and may be kept in small confines 
will do well to start with Golden and Lady Am¬ 
herst pheasants, although the prices are consid¬ 
erably higher that those ob¬ 
tained for the Ring-necks. 
This is when they are to be 
kept in aviaries or allowed to 
wander about the grounds. 
For stocking coverts the 
Ring-neck is, of course, the 
best. Other ornamental and 
popular pheasants are the 
Swinhoe, the Elliott and the 
Reeves, the latter having the 
longest tail feathers of all, ex¬ 
tending to four feet and over. 
As a class, pheasants take the 
lead a m ong all fine- 
feathered birds. 
There are several breeds 
of poultry kept by fan¬ 
ciers which are highly 
ornamental, but more do¬ 
mestic in their habits than 
peafowl and pheasants. 
They include the Ham¬ 
burg's, Polish, White- 
Faced Black Spanish, 
Houdans, Andalusians 
and various members of 
the bantam family. The 
Hamburgs are aris¬ 
tocratic birds, and, as the 
Polish fowl are very orna¬ 
mental in their black plu¬ 
mage and great turban¬ 
like white crests 
1 he Black Spanish is one of 
the oddest of poultry with 
a long white face hanging 
very much like a bib 
Houdans have every fifth feather 
tipped with white, which gives them 
a peculiar mottled appearance 
Silver and Lady Amherst 
are the varieties to keep. 
They may not be quite so 
easy to raise as the Eng¬ 
lish or Chinese Ring-neck, 
but they are tamer and 
m ore ornamental. The 
Golden pheasant defies de¬ 
scription, to borrow a 
newspaper phrase. It is 
easy to call it the most 
brilliant bird known, to 
tell of its orange crest, its 
rich red breast, its blue 
wing coverts, its long' tail 
and the stifif red feathers on each side, but the words convey 
little idea of the real gorgeousness of the plumage. This variety 
is easy to keep and in high favor among amateurs. The Silver 
pheasant is also handsome, with its two-foot tail and bright red 
wattles. Although tame, easy to keep and beautiful, the Silver 
pheasant has one fault — it makes a rather unpleasant noise. In 
any collection the Lady Amherst pheasant is sure to excite 
special comment, 
tail is a prominent 
characteristic. 
This is a bird of 
many colors — 
green, black, 
red, white and 
gray. Most amateurs 
American Standard of 
Perfection says, the Sil¬ 
ver and Golden Spangled 
and the Silver and Gold¬ 
en penciled varieties rival 
the pheasant in beauty of 
plumage. In a yard or on 
the lawn the Hamburgs 
are exceedingly hand¬ 
some. They have other 
qualities, too. They are 
exceptionally prolific and 
lay most of the year. 
Their eggs are white like 
those of Leghorns, al¬ 
though hardly as large. This 
birds come remarkably 
Polish fowls are certain 
They have crests or top- 
The cock's great length of 
The Silver Lace Wyandottes are a 
popular domestic breed with ex¬ 
tremely beautiful feather markings 
is a very old breed and the young 
true to type. 
to attract attention anywhere, 
knots, and some varieties also 
possess what are termed beards. 
The White Crested Black Polish 
is especially interesting, being 
solid black except 
for the pure white 
head dress. The Sil¬ 
ver and Golden vari¬ 
eties have beautiful¬ 
ly marked feathers. 
(Continued on page 
4G) 
