British Pathe

Produced by British Instructional Films. Distributed by Wardour Films Ltd.

Various types of pheasant including Reeve's Pheasant and Silver Pheasant. The forest. We see how pheasant hide in the undergrowth. Hen pheasant makes nest on the ground. Nest full of eggs. Pheasant is well camouflaged...

Produced by British Instructional Films. Distributed by Wardour Films Ltd.

Various types of pheasant including Reeve's Pheasant and Silver Pheasant. The forest. We see how pheasant hide in the undergrowth. Hen pheasant makes nest on the ground. Nest full of eggs. Pheasant is well camouflaged and "only the winking of her eye reveals her whereabouts". Eggs hatch and baby pheasants leave the nest. Keeper on watch for predators. Stoat at the nest (probably a stuffed one posed there!) The keeper shoots a large gun then goes and picks up the stoat (it is pretty rigid!) He hangs the dead stoat on a fence next to three others. The Jay, the fox and the owl are all "egg suckers". Keeper takes eggs from a nest and puts them into his "capacious keeper's pocket." He then pus the eggs into a pail. Shire horses pull a cart laden with hen coops. The coops are placed in position shaded from the wind by trees. Also protected from foxes by wire. 13 eggs are placed in each nest. Farmyard hen is entrusted with the job of hatching them out. The hens are let out every day for 15 minutes exercise. They are tethered by the leg so that they do not stray far. Coops are scattered over the fields once the eggs have hatched so that the chicks can wander abroad. The hen is in a cage with bars, the chicks are walking around outside the cage but can get back in to their "foster mother" whenever they want. The coops are loaded on to the back of a car. In the woods the keeper has established his "kitchen." On an outdoor fire he cooks up a big pot of hard boiled eggs and grain. C/U of bubbling cauldron. Keeper walks along throwing out the food, lots of tiny pheasants run around to get the food. The foster mothers struggle to get out of their coops to no avail. The coops are taken away and the young pheasants are left to fend for themselves.

Note: multiple prints exist - check best quality.