Pheasants Their Natural History and Practical Management (Classic Reprint) - Softcover

Excerpt from Pheasants Their Natural History and Practical Management

Then came a change. It was realised that the pheasant was not only a bird for the kitchen, but could use his wings that he was. Indeed, one of the finest and fastest of fliers among British game birds. And it was discovered that there were certain conditions under which he would fly and others under which he would not. You could not make him fly away from home. If he had become accustomed to being fed or finding his food in a particular covert or part of a covert, he might be driven away from it, but he would only go relue tautly he would run away from it, or would fly a short distance near the ground, but he would not take a high and prolonged flight. Why should be? For his natural idea would be to get back there as soon as possible.

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This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Pheasants Their Natural History and Practical Management

A Detailed Account of the natural history, habits, food, and treatment of the various species of Pheasants had long been a desideratum; this hook was projected with a view to supply the want in a more complete and comprehensive form than had hitherto been attempted. The extremely favourable reception which the First Edition met with, not only from messieurs the reviewers, but also from the general public, showed that the demand for such information was not over-estimated, whilst the opinions expressed by many of our best authorities led me to believe that the endeavour to combine ornithological research with practical experience in the management of this group of birds was not unattended with success. My obligations to numerous correspondents on various branches of the subject are duly acknowledged throughout the pages of the work.

In the following work I propose to give the natural history and general practical management, not only of the pheasants, strictly so called - those adapted for the covert - but also of the allied species, which are the most beautiful ornaments of our aviaries.

The progress of scientific exploration is continually bringing to light species of pheasants hitherto unknown; many of these may be well suited to our coverts, whilst others will find a place in our collections of ornamental birds. A few years since the only pheasant bred wild in England was the common species (Phasianus colchicus); our coverts now possess the Chinese (P. torquatus) and the Japanese (P. versicolor) species. There are others, as the Reeves pheasant (P. reevesii), still more beautiful, and equally well adapted both for sporting and culinary purposes. In the same manner, our aviaries have recently been enriched by the addition of the Amherst pheasant (Thaumalea amherstiæ) and numerous others, which, by their exquisite beauty, eclipse even the gorgeous coloration and elegant markings of the comparatively well-known gold and silver pheasants.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.