in summer, beans, peas, and buckwheat, mix,ed .together,
leaving the whole crop, standing on the ground; the -strong
and tall stalks of the: beans -carry up,.^sustain, and support
the other twp, and all three together afford, for a long time,
bdtjh food and cover. Maize' or Indian corn .is, however,
preferred to any other food.
During summer,- till - the' old birds have "completed ?th«ir
seasonal moult, Pheasants do not/roost constantly ipstrees,
but afterwards they may be heard, about dusk, tessg^^up to
their roost,/by thje flutter of their wings^ and their pfcnliar
notes; the male giving-his short chuckling | crow, -an d -the I
female her more , shrill piping whittle, as soon, as they get
upon their feet on the branch : both generally roost/Upon'.-the I
smaller trees,-and near the stem; Unless| disturbed,-, and
obliged to secure ‘their safety by flight,’ Pheasants ^seldom
use they* wings,* qxcept,. jaS'.b.e%re- noticed,; at -night-and
morning ; .-nor hpg^they.:mueh § occasion, as a.-mode |f i
progression, for they get-, .over .fkeC!i.grou.nd with; Wmark-
able speed by running. ~,But, when .well on the.-wing |%ey I
fly with, tremendous ■ force, and plate-glass windowsf^|^peh I
thick have-been smashed, intu fi^§mncn ^ h y ^ ^ d ^ 0eived
by. the reflection in a mirror facing the. wfndg-sy or attracted
by a light 'and also- when--pursued by a hawJk.fe^.sl
regards the du-ration'-of flight, Mr.*- Cordeaux’ ^Jres^that j
when shooting, in the marshes near- Grimsby onftke-Mh@aln-1
shire-side of -the Humber, which ^is there--, nearly- fomt mllesl»
across, a man working on the sea embankment i called his 3
attention t^-fwo Pheasantqwhieh ha^ n s^flown over fromfhe %
Yorkshire- side, and vdhcls,€§j§Jbeing shot, .proved fo be hens 1
in-very-good condition. ' Pheasants -can also swim with jeon- J
siderable facility, both old and young birds lmv%g^eca^n- i
ally been known^p.take to the wqter .of,-their vpw^free<will. !
Although capable -of- being rendered tame, ~ar^vpy§^4n 9
individual cases - d-isagreeabjyp, familiar, -the Pheasa^t^-never ,|
becomes - domesticated iu thp.js^me sense ag -enymcom-mn*nJa
fov|ls; - fhe*yQun-gj, e^en^when-hatched under a: dim^eltcjhenl
and- accustomed- tp ^ e .fed, .always^ betaking thenaselves, to I
the covers on the approach of strangers-,,
In the last Edition mention is made of a brace of cock
Pheasants which turned the scale at .91hs.; hut this weight
has since been surpassed in -several.-instances ; the heaviest
as yet' on record being one described in ‘ The Field,’
yol. xlvi. p. 179, weighed independently by .-Ms* Kelly and
Admiral Sir Houston- Stewart, and which attained to .61bs.
less loz. Thiswas doubtless' owingtódhe fattening influence
of.feeding on maize and the average'of an old .cock bird
may be takeri at Blb#rfo_3|-lbs., and a hem about;-2£lbs-. -
Like other ^gallinaceous birds, the= Pheasant has a strong
inclination-to breed with other birds, not of its own. species.
Edwards longtago- figured, plate;.‘337, a bird which was con*
sidered -to have b'een ;rproduced between a Pheasant and a
Turkey; I have twice he®n shewn- birds-that werp; said to
be the produce of the Pheasant? and the Guinea 'Fowl,* and
the evidence to. be derived from the plumage was in favour
of the statement. Gf birds .produced? between thé Pheasant
and the Black'Grouse, several figures and particulars, have
been given; under / the head of-Black -Grouse'. Birds pro duced’,
between thé':Pheasant iand ^Uommon-Fowl are pf
frëquenteiceu^fénce, and such a oné is. usually called a Pero.
The Zoélogëal^oeiety have possessed" several;-.which weré
for. a kept/fogether, but shewed- no si^ns-j-of breeding;
they are. considered,' like other bydrids, .t^be unproductive
among themselves/ all being-balfehried; .-but when paired wi|h,
the -true. Pheasant;- or.' tMe fÉówl; the case is different .,c -Tn
September-, 18:3:6,- ajcómmunieation from-Mr; Edward Fuller,
of, CarletomHail, near Saxmundham; was .read, which- stated
that fM'S/gamekeeper had sueeeededvin .rearing two -birds
from a Barn-dopr Hen, having a cross from a Pheasant, and
a Pheasant- cock'; that dire? birds partook equally of -the two
spe'cies .in - their . habits, manners --and;; appearance,- .and- concluded
by- presenting thenr to theLSociéty:?> 5®ae;gamekeeper,
in. a ,short/nöté^w-hich accompanied the birds, -slated- that he
had bred- them,-; and i they »were ‘threé=quarter.-bred Pheasants.
(fZool: £ Proceedings | for T 88 6, *p. - 84;);/ Several.; specimens
of hybrids, from the, preserved collfecfion’anthe -Museum
of the -Society^ were placed* on the 'table thé same evening