The pheasant does not easily resign its wild habits ; when it does, it seems to languish ; it lays but few eggs, and is in different, or indeed at a loss, regarding its young; which are usually hatched and reared by a common hen, on that ac count. When allowed to ramble, they multiply as quick as the means of subsist ence may afford, and appear to thrive during even our most rigorous winters. They are extremely fond of ants ; with out which, it is asserted by many, they will neither breed, nor remain where bred. In coppices abounding with haws, hips, and many other kinds of berries, the pheasant takes great delight ; they also fatten a little upon acorns. They begin crowing about the middle of March, w hen they will sometimes come into the farm yards and tread the common hens, whe nce many assert the finest game fowls are produced; for the pheasant is remarka ble for his spirit. One cock serves seven or eight hens. They are particularly fond of clover, especially when it stands for seed. In that they will, if undisturb ed, make their nests; hence so many young and eggs are destroyed by the scythe.
In pheasant shooting, most old spi‘rts men confine their aim to the cock birds, unless the game is extremely abundant ; when it is often necesssary to thin them, on account of the prodigious damage they do among ripening corn. When the corn is cut, they will frequent the stubble, in search of the stray grains, until alarmed by the researches of sportsmen ; at first they take to the hedge-rows, where they often lay extremely close, or wind in among the briars, so as to puzzle the spa niels, and to rise in a position adverse to the sportsman. After being several times put up, they take refuge in heavy woods, in which it is extremely difficult to make them take wing ; there they run under the low bushes, and generally gain much upon the dogs, unless followed up with great spirit and activity. Aim at the head or wing, allowing' a moderate advance for the bird's flight, which is, at first, very rapid, but soon becomes languid, and is at all times very fluttering and noisy.
Sportsmen are sometimes deceived in regard to the sex of the bird they fire at; for a peculiarity obtains among pheasants which is perhaps little known ; namely, that after a certain age the hen becomes barren, moults, and assumes the plumage of the cock. In this state she is subject to the jealousy of all the males, and has an unnatural bent towards the destruction of whatever eggs, of her own species, she can find.
Pheasant shooting commences on the first of October, and requires very well trained spaniels. Such as are strong in the chest and loins, with very short legs, are keen, obedient, and courageous, should be selected. Unless these qualities exist, the sportsman will meet with great mortifica tion ; his dogs will put up the birds at a great distance, and, after having fatigued themselves, will hunt without spirit or dis crimination. They will drive the pheasants up among the low boughs in the woods, and puzzle to no purpose. Spaniels that have a taint, however remote, of the hound, will be babblers, unsteady, and quit birds for bares. If good, you cannot have too many spaniels for pheasant shooting : but, if bad, every additional dog will prove an additional tormentor.
Mr. Daniel justly observes, " there are no fixed rules for beating coverts ; this, however, ought to be a standing regula tion, never to beat in a slovenly manner; a nide of pheasants are sometimes collect ed in a very small space, and in the mid dle of the day conceal themselves very close. In the early part of the season, pheasants prefer grassy, brambly, two and three year old slops ; and it is lost labour to try higher growths : as the sea son advances, they will lie in clearer bot toms, especially among pits of water, which are sometimes found in woods. In
winter skirting the edges, and afterwards, by degrees, sinking deeper into the co verts, is, perhaps, where the game is not very plentiful, as good a mode as any. The haunt of the game that have been feeding in the adjoining fields will thus probably be hit off; and it may, at least, serve to show whether there is game in the covert. If any of the spaniels are wide rangers, after traversing the wood well, always make a concluding circuit round the edge of it : depend upon get ting shots, by this means, at those birds which may have ran or flown from the in terior parts." The Partridge is the most common species of field game in England. We have several varieties of this delicious bird, but those we call partridges are ei ther grey or red ; the latter is the biggest, and often perches upon trees : not a native of our climate, but first intro duced from the south of Spain, it is not very common, and is reared with some • difficulty. The grey always keep on the ground, and form by far the greater part of the sportsman's success. The par tridge, of whatever species, rarely remains long in the forest ; but has its haunts un der thick grown hedges, especially near to stubbles, wherein it feeds with its young so soon as the gleaners have per formed their task. The partridge hatches a full month before the pheasant ; there fore the former may be killed on the first of September. The propensity of the par tridge to frequent open fields subjects it to great danger, both from regular sports men and from poachers; the latter avail themselves of the alacrity with which this bird answers to the call, and by aid of a well broke setting dog, perhaps of no blood, but completely obedient, and keen after game, it is covered with the net, or led into a labyrinth of springes. The male bird generally weighs nearly a pound, the female ordinary about two or three oun ces less. They pair about the middle or end of February ; there are always more cock than hen chicks : this produces great struggle for possession of mates, in which many are killed. The Duke of Kingston used to have his covies netted so soon as the birds began to pair, and thinned the number of cocks, and thereby had regulai• broods, which never happens when the hens are followed by two or more cocks ; as she then drops her eggs in different places, and cannot, of course, hatch them in any numbers. The hens lay on the ground, among a few bents and leaves scraped together, usually within some hollow made by the tread of a horse, or by the removal of some large stone or clod. Partridges are very amorous and prolific : they ordinarily lay from sixteen to twenty eggs, and often may be seen leading their young in covies of seven or eight brace. In 1793, on a farm occupied by Mr. Pratt, near Terling, iu Essex, a nest was found in a fallow, containing thir ty-three eggs; of these twenty-three were hatched, and the birds fledged ; had nine birds in them ; the eggs were piled in a very curious manner by the hen, which covered them all. The above in stance of fecundity, though rare, is not singular ; for in June 1801, at the seat of Mr. Clark, Walton Place, Northumber land, a neat was found in a plantation, containing thirty-three eggs ; and in 1798, one was found in a wheat-field, in Som ersetshire, with twenty-eight eggs. In the year 1788, a partridge was found sitting in the heart of an oak pollard many feet from the ground ; although a s:ile was fixed into the tree, and persons were per petually passing by. She hatched sixteen eggs, and assisted her chicks to scramble down among the twigs, until they were all in safety on the grass.