The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1898-04-26
THE MONGOLIAN PHEASANT.
G~recnvillc Has Made IA Good Start fol
Raising this Magnificent Bird
Paris Mountain AS II Hunting Pre-

NalSinS NIIS Nag llICenJ blFu- |
Paris Mountain as II Hunting Pre-
serve.
Mountaineer.
There has been q great deal said ia
the newspapers of this State, in the
past year or so, regarding the importa-
ton and breeding Of pheasants, parti-
cularly the Mongolian variety, but it
is not generally known that one OF the
most practicable schemes for raising
these birds is being carried out in and
around G~rCenville. For a year or
more, Mr.. James ii. Maxwell has been
Interested in the matter, and he
secured from " breeder in Aiken u trio
OF the birds. Recently in conjunction
with MIR. w. O. E%arnbardt, he has
purchased more of them, and they
are now at Oakhurst poultry yards, Of
which Mr.. Earnhardt is proprietor.
These gentlemen have six Mongollun
and two English pheasants One hen
OF tne English variety killed herself
soon after she was turned loose in the
yard and there arc now left u hen and
Il cock of this variety. There are two
cocks Of the MongOlians, and these
birds are divided into two pens.
The pheasant has been Il rara avis in
this country, and it is u fact hat one
Of the most prominent members Of the
General Assembly did not know what
Il pheasant was, when the bill for the
protection of the bird came up for con
sideration in 1896 The pheasant be-.
longs to the same family AS the pea
cock, the partridge, the quail, the
guinGa fowl and the turkey. Like the
peafOwl it is an Oriental bird, while
tho guinea is from Africa aud the
turkey is indigenous to America. The
pheasant Is Il Medium between the
peafowl and the quail in size and color
ing. The cock is brilliant in the
colOring OF its feathers, but the hen
closely resembles the partridge in this
respect. The ben Is about the size Of
an Indian game, the cock being IL little
larger than the hen. 1T is Il very
prouG bird and extremely timid. The
family, the technical name of which is
phasianinae, is OF the ga~llinaceous
order Of fowls, which in plain English
means that they feed on grain, seeds
and insects, and have u rather stout
body with short and straight bill, both
Of these characteristics being common
to tho ordinary barn yard hen, which
then, belongs to the same order. The
pheasant is supposed to take its name
from the River Phasis in ancien'
Colchis, near the east coast OF the
Black sea, whore the bird was fire
found.
Much interest has been taken in tn,
effort to intr Uduce the bird in South
Carolina, and for this th,
Legislature has passed an act makins
it unlawful to hunt or kill a Mongoliai
pheasant in this State until the first o
January, 1905. Nothing is said in thi
act about the English pheasant which
diners only slightly, in greater siz,
and less brilliant piumage, from tn
MongOlian, while its flesh is said to b,
equally AS delicious for food. Som,
authorities state that q cross between
the two gives the best results for al
purposes.
Besides the pens at Olkhurst, tn,
MOngolian pheasants are being raiset
in Grccnvillc by Mcssrs. IL. &. Me
Pherson, w. f.. Beattie and III. c
Bcattic. 1t is the intention OF thrs
gentlemen to secure the shOOtiu,
privileges Of Paris Mountain and max
1t Il Eunting preserve for phcusants
NJ. E~arnhardt expects to raise some
thing like one hundred birds thi
season, and in The course OF Il yea
there ought to be enough to turn loOs
over two hundred on the mountain
BY the time set by the law for thei
non nOlcStaJlOn, 1arlS Mountain WOu.l
probably nave several Thousand upO
it, AS they are rapid breeders in tn
wild state. The difficulty in raisini
them Is that they are not good settlers
aud it is proposed by MIR E4rnhardt I
put the eggs under Bantam hens
either Seabrights or CUchins. Tn
cggg is about the size OF II Bantam he
egg and IN color closely matches tina
of the Bun Cochin. by not allowing
the p~hcasants u set, Il larger numbe
Of eggs will be secured.
Paris Mouatain is an ideal spot 70
the OBI sct in view, and IL u be az
ranged doubtless to secure the ncccs
sary privileges without difficulty, a
the mountain nov belongs for the mos
part to the Land Company, the Waite
Company and the Hotel Company
The growth is such as the phCasnE
seeks, n over OF the North IN sid,
OF the mountain toward the rcscrvOir
the underground is particularly suite,
10 the desires OF the bird which run
in low bushes and fallen logs. There
are now aid to be- some mOuntaii
grouse on the mountain and these
birds are also rare. This climate i
admirably fitted for the pheasant, "a
mas been 50 often stated, and with ;
lew car free run on Paris Mountain
the pheasants would be found in such
abundance that it would be the bcs'
shooting Of the kind in the South, and
Ough hit TO attract hundreds OF SPORTS,
men from the North, who are evel
eager to get such advantages.