204 The Common Pheasant. 
very Seat expense. When shooting through a cover 
too high for sportsmen to walk, they stand in a riding 
on the side next to the quarter of the wood that is 
being beaten, and where it is only a shot at a Phea- 
sant now and then, the beaters’ cry when flushing a 
cock Pheasant is, “ Cock over.” This gives full energy 
to each gun, and every eye is looking to ‘see which 
line it is taking, in order to be prepared for a more 
certain shot. 
In the winter, when trees are stripped of their foliage 
and the herbage beneath is cut down by frost, the 
Pheasant passes its night on low boughs of trees: it 
prefers, as a rule, larch to any other. The male bird 
makes a great noise when going to perch, and by that 
sign his roosting-place is often marked by some poacher 
who is on the look-out for one or two certain trees to 
which he may come direct in the middle of the night, 
and, if not caught by the watchers, bags his prize and 
makes his way out of the wood in a very cautious 
manner. And should this bird ever lose the protec- 
tion of the Game Laws, it will most probably oniy be 
found in the aviaries of our country. 
