It is not my object to go into a detailed ac¬ 
count of the natural history, habits, food and 
treatment of the various species of pheasants. 
That would take too much space and would lead 
me too far. I will, therefore, give a short, but 
comprehensive description of the management 
of pheasants in aviaries and include such birds as 
are best adapted for preserves in North America. 
A majority of our foremost sportsmen seem 
to be somewhat shy and doubtful when it comes 
to breeding pheasants on their preserves. It is 
not the initial outlay that such an undertaking 
requires, but they fancy it is impossible to breed 
these birds in their particular locality. The fact 
is that neither the severe heat of our Southern 
States nor the severe cold and the blizzards of 
our Eastern and Western States are drawbacks 
to the successful rearing of pheasants as game 
birds. The pheasant is here to stay and in 
future will have first place as the handsomest 
and gamiest of all our game birds, and will be 
considered so by all classes of sportsmen and 
by the general public. 
At the outset I want to mention that pheasants 
raised for aviaries are generally birds of gor¬ 
geous plumage and exquisite beauty. Best known 
among them are the golden pheasant ( Thaumalea 
picta ) and the silver pheasant ( Euplocamus 
nycthemerus). Of late years several other 
species have been liked, such as the Lady Am¬ 
herst (Thaumalea amherstice ) and the argus 
pheasant (Argus gigantius). 
Pens for pheasants should always be located 
on high and dry soil with plenty of air and sun¬ 
shine. The top of the fence should be at least 
four feet high and should have an area of at 
least 14 by 14 feet or better still 16 by 16 feet. 
The more ground the better, but 16 by 16 feet 
is sufficient. 
The posts, of which there are eight, should be 
driven into the ground eighteen inches. A ditch 
or trench some eight inches wide should be dug 
all around the pen on the outside, and at least 
six inches deep. Then a strip of half-inch mesh 
wire twelve inches wide is doubled over in the 
center, one-half nailed on to the post, the other 
half bent so that it lies solidly on the floor of 
the trench. As soon as this is done, the dirt 
is replaced in the trench, and a' simple but effec¬ 
tive barrier is presented to any vermin that may 
try to dig into the pens. In nailing this wire to 
the posts, care should be taken to have the edge 
extend just a little above the surface of the 
ground, so when the boards are nailed on to 
the post, the lower one will overreach the edge 
of the wire at least one-half inch. The pens 
are boarded up all around for a height of two 
feet, just leaving room enough at one corner 
for a two-foot gate. 
After the boards are all put on, half-inch mesh 
wire is nailed to the posts all around the pen. 
Care again should be taken to extend the lower 
edge of the wire at least one inch over the top 
board. Wire of the same mesh is also stretched 
over the top of the pens, care being taken not 
to stretch it too tight. If pulled too tight the 
birds may injure their heads or even kill them¬ 
selves when flying up against it. On the inside 
and in the center of the pen a pole five feet 
high and four or five inches in diameter is placed 
upright. This will raise the wire netting on top 
about one foot in the center and keeps it from 
sagging. To this pole nail a smaller one six 
feet long and an inch or inch and one-half in 
diameter. This is fastened horizontally and af¬ 
fords the birds a roosting place, which is much 
better than having them roost on the ground, 
especially in wet and inclement weather. 
If the birds are pinioned or one wing is cut 
to keep them from flying, a little brush should 
be placed in the pens in such shape that they can 
easily walk up or down. In the corners of each 
pen place some small brush or a shield made 
of lath and tar paper, leaving an opening on each 
side right above the ground for the hens to go 
behind. Hen pheasants while laying their eggs 
want seclusion and they do not like to be dis¬ 
turbed by the cock pheasant, which is sometimes 
very troublesome. However, the hens, while 
using these prepared places for their nests, will 
often lay their eggs anywhere on the ground. 
Pens, as I have described here, are absolutely 
safe from intrusion of vermin, but are some¬ 
what expensive. In my opinion the cost is of 
no consideration so long as your birds are per¬ 
fectly secure from harm of any kind, and you 
can lie down at night without thought of trouble 
for your charges. 
Many sportsmen employ movable pens. These 
are made of common lath and are called hurdles. 
Each side of the pen represents one or more 
sections of hurdles. While this sort of pens 
are of course much cheaper and easily handled 
and carried from place to place, they are not 
nearly so safe as the pens I have described and 
I have seen hundreds upon hundreds of pheas¬ 
ants killed by weasels and minks in hurdle pens, 
and yet they may be used to advantage in locali¬ 
ties where small vermin has been killed out. 
In contrast to these breeding pens are the 
aviaries proper, which are nothing more nor less 
than the pens just described, only much larger, 
so that they give one the opportunity of showing 
one's stock on hand and the different species 
one has bred, or to breed from. An aviary may 
also be open, or a piece of ground some acres 
in extent, but only inclosed on the sides. In 
these, pheasants may be kept either pinioned or 
full-winged, the latter of course having free ac¬ 
cess and egress. 
While the construction of pens is easily under¬ 
stood by anyone, the laying of eggs and the 
hatching of the birds present a much more diffi¬ 
cult problem, which is in fact the stumbling 
block to many beginners. This is where experi¬ 
ence counts for much, if not for all. 
In the latter part of March the breeding stock 
is placed in the pens, one cock pheasant and 
five or six hen pheasants to each pen. One 
should never give more than six hens to one 
cock, as that would decrease the fertility of 
their eggs. The hens begin to lay in April, 
and at this time their keeper should see to it 
that they are not disturbed beyond the ordinary. 
No strangers should be allowed near their pens; 
no dogs or cats—in fact, anything that may 
frighten the birds should be rigorously kept 
away from the neighborhood of the pens, for 
such alarms would tend to do untold harm to 
both the birds and their eggs. 
The food of the birds should be very care¬ 
fully looked after during the laying season, as 
this has very much to do in fecundating the eggs 
and securing strong and lively chicks. While 
there is no hard and fast rules to the amount 
of food one should give, I will say this without 
hesitation: Never feed more than the birds will 
eat up clean. By careful watching the keeper 
will soon know what quantity to give. The 
food should be of the very best quality and 
should be varied as much as possible. Use one 
kind of grain one day and another the next, but 
never feed too much cracked corn or buckwheat, 
as these are too fattening. Hens which are too 
fat will lay but few eggs, and of the number 
laid, few only will be fertile. The rest will 
be of no use for hatching and some of them 
will be soft shelled. In my long years’ experi¬ 
ence as a practical keeper and breeder I have 
always obtained a good and sometimes a very 
high percentage of fertile eggs, ranging always 
above 75 per cent, and increasing to 94 per cent. 
This high percentage can of course only be 
reached with eggs laid during April and May. 
June eggs will be somewhat lower, July eggs 
still lower, and considering that the birds are 
kept laying for a term of three successive 
months, it is only natural that there should be 
a lowering of the percentage of the fertility of 
their eggs. Pheasant hens kept in confinement 
will lay from forty to sixty and even more eggs. 
This is in consequence of the removal of the eggs 
as soon as deposited, and because the birds are 
not permitted to sit and hatch. In the wild state 
a pheasant hen only produces from nine to fif¬ 
teen eggs. It is therefore obvious that by breed¬ 
ing these birds in confinement one can rear them 
in much larger numbers than nature would other¬ 
wise permit. Often, of course, a hen will breed 
twice during the summer, but her second brood, 
on account of the advanced season, will very 
often come to grief. 
To return to the food best adapted for birds 
in breeding pens, I have always fed in the fol¬ 
lowing way: In the morning, Spratt’s game 
meal with a little fine dried meat and bonemeal 
mixed twice or three times a week, adding a 
little chopped beef heart dried and made fine, 
which keeps the birds in good condition. In 
the afternoon I feed either wheat, cracked 
oats, barley, buckwheat, cracked corn, sorg¬ 
hum, pease and so on, but as I said before, 
cracked corn and buckwheat should be given 
sparingly, three or four times a week only. 
Green food, especially clover, cabbage, lettuce 
and beet tops shou'd be provided plentifully, but 
always fresh. Plenty of fresh water, preferably 
running water, should be provided. This, too, 
