PHEASANT.
am] tln> men wore allowed to remain on guard. No less than three or four small Hawks, in all probability
Sparrow-Hawks and Kestrels, were lo lie seen sitting among the branches of llie highest trees, waiting for
an o]ipor(unity to sweep down and carry off some of the young. The birds in their present state wen- the
properly of the head keeper, who had procured the eg!;*, and reared and protected the downy miles during their
iirst stages; he was entitled to no remuneration till a price was paid for them when lit to be turned out, and
consequently it would have been a great loss to him to have them carried off by the Hawks. I learned on
my arrival on Monday that, owing to the constant watch kept on Sunday evening, the guns were not
brought into use that day ; but the following morning a couple had been killed, and during tho remainder of
the week the whole of the marauders were, I believe, cleared off.
Many years ago my father rented tho shootings of Catsfield, near Battle, in Susses, and oaring little
for the sport of knocking down hand-reared birds, his keojier seldom reared above twenty or thirty broods
from eggs rescued from outlying or exposed nesls that would otherwise have been robbed; the BOOM were
placed out on an open part of the wild horth-grown stretch of land close by the spot un which Normauhurst
now stands. "While at home from school for the holidays my whole time was generally spent cither shooting
or fishing, according lo the season, in company with one or other of the keepers, and I had many opportunities
for becoming well acquainted with the preservation of game. The vermin that gave most trouble were
cats, Crows, Magpies, and Jays, and for these traps were constantly set and kept in working order: stoats
and weasels also were destroyed whenever a chance was obtained, but they were for the most part shot
when detected on the open ground hunting for prey. While the coops were out with young Pheasants
and a few Partridges that were also reared the keeper had a busy time, and it was necessary for him
to be constantly on guard. A couple of noisy terriers were also kept in barrels near tho coops, to give warning
or impending danger, and it was seldom any of the youm; birds were losl ; u lew, however, had been missed one
summer, and n closer watch was necessary. On a line bright Sunday morning I had succeeded in evading
tin- usual routine, and, provided with a strong shooting-double, had constructed a comfortable shelter among
llie hushes growing near the coops on one side of the open cround, while the keeper was on the look out
on all parts where sufficient concealment could ho obtained. After waiting a couple of hours I crept
stealthily from my station into the cover close at hand to take a look over the furze-clad slopes on the
open ground, to ascertain if any of the predatory species were in sight in that quarter. While crossing
a ride'* a view of the coops was obtained and u savage growl and luw cries from the terriers caught
my car. On rapidly making my way down towards the spot I was in time to see a large black-andwhite
dog roll over to a shot, while an instant later a second report was heard and another almost similar
in colouring came in view, evidently badly wounded, but continuing its course towards the ride through
which I was uow proceeding. Drawing at once into the shelter of the bushes I quietly awaited its
approach, and a charge of No. ,1 shot behind the shoulder settled the matter, the poor beast having been
previously hard bit. On reaching the open ground I made my way to where the keeper was standing,
admiring a beautiful black-and-white setter lying dead. He stated that Ins attention had first been
attracted by tho excitement of the terriers, and then he had observed the dog* snapping up some young
birds which had not yet retreated to the shelter of the coops. His first barrel, as 1 was well aware,
had done its work successfully ; but the •eoond journal at winch he find had been, he asserled, at n longer
ra litre and had carried off the charge, though evidently suffering from the effects of the shot. Having
reported my share in the work, no quickly made our way to the *JM>( where the second had fallen, and
assistance having been summoned, the offenders were at once pul under ground. We were well aware of
the kennel to which this brace of setters belonged; but how they had mnuaged to escape from the care
PHEASANT. 3
of those who looked after them was a mystery we never solved. Neither the bead keeper nor any of his
assistants had previously seen this brood of dogs misbehaving themselves in such a manner, and during
thirty years' knocking about in the British Islands since that time I have never met with a similar
occurrence.
I frequently remarked that cock Pheasants answer the reports of artillery or distant thunder by
crowing loudly : in the woods about Catsfield they were particularly noisy on the afternoon of March 11, 1850,
immediately after the blow-up of the Hounslow powder-mills. The birds continued uttering their calls
for some time after the explosion, which was plainly heard, though llie distance must have been over sixty
miles. The weather happened to bo particularly line and slill for that time of year, and this may possihly
BOOOnnt for the fact of the sound being conveyed so far.
Pheasants when flying over water occasionally get as perplexed as Cartridges, and on falling seldom
succeed in reaching terra firma again, but perish by drowning. While fishing on Heigham Sounds on the
21st of June, 3871, a male and female (the latter in pursuit nf llie former) were noticed dashing rapidly
over the water from one bank to another, the distance being about a quarter of a mile. The birds were
soon lost sight of behind a high and widely spreading reed-bush; but a wherry passing a few minutes later,
the owner called out to us that two Pheasants wore swimming in an open pool among llie reeds bo had just
sailed by and that they appeared unable to make the shore. As the fish were biting well we did not care
to disturb the spot where the boats were brought up by moving, and took no more notice of the matter
for the present. Later in the day, when the fish had ceased to feed after several hours' good sport (a couple
of perch weighing 3 A lbs. and four f"j lbs., with many of smaller rise, having been taken), we pulled in the
direction indicated by the wherry-man and discovered both birds floating dead on the surface of the water
within a short distance of each other. Other Instances of these birds being picked up drowned on the
Norfolk broads and meres have boon reported by the natives; the Partridges, however, that incur the same
fate in this marshy district number at least ten to one compared with this species.
While living at Ferry gate, near North Berwick in East Lothian, in 1803, for tho purpose or studying
agriculture, I discovered a nest with sixteen eggs in the thick tangled grass in a small plantation of young
trees only a short distance from our farm-house. The eggs evidently belonged to Pheasants and Partridges,
each species having contributed about the same number; for a week or more I visited the nest daily, but
never identified the sitting bird. Unfortunately before she bad hatched out the young I was obliged
to leave that part of the country for a few weeks, aad could only ascertain on my return, by the mass
of broken shells, that the whole of the eggs had proved prolific.
About thirty years ago a hen Pheasant selected a strange situation for her nest in the railway-cutting
near Battle great wood, on the line between Tunbridgo Wells and Hastings. An unusually large cavity
under one of the sleepers on which the rails were laid had been detected by the bird; this she had deepened
by scratching and then constructed the nest for her eggs. Utterly regardless of the deafening uproar caused
by the passing trains, she sat closely and in due course brought off her brood, having been carefully watched
during the time of incubation by the plate-layers constantly patting up and down the line, who were well
acquainted with the position of the nest.