MORE ABOUT "SNOOKS".

Our tame Pheasant Snooks is still leading a charmed life the grounds of our home, each weekend when the local shoot takes place the sly old bird roosts in our shrubbery, in fact for the past week or so he seems to have been here so often that we began to think he had moved in.

This morning we had even more cause to think so when he turned up with no less than three female birds in tow.

The four birds strolled about the lawns quite happily all day feeding royally on the wild bird food which we put out twice each day. Snooks watches the ladies with a proprietorial air which leads me to believe that they are his chosen harem for the breeding season soon to come.

When ever he looses sight of one of the females he calls to her with that distinctive croaking sound so redolent of Autumn and Winter in the countryside.

His antics entertained not only the human inhabitants of the house today, our two cats were very much interested in the new arrivals and both Moth and Twiggy spent more time out of doors today that they have for months. Both cats kept a wide birth as Snooks is a “big fella”, quite the largest male Pheasant I have ever encountered and very beautiful.

Towards dusk he rounded up the ladies and they strolled off into the deepest part of the shrubbery to spend the night perched in the branches of an ancient apple tree who's trunk is wound thickly round with wild Clematis and Ivy, and surrounded by a thicket of Hazel, making it safe from the odd roving fox.

We have great hopes that this little group will, in the spring become a family with lots of cute little Pheasant chicks disporting themselves about the garden, You can believe me when I tell you that everything possible will be done to ensure that it will be so.

No pictures at the moment as I have been unable to get the birds to stay still long enough, they bob their heads incessantly and this blurs the picture, any suggestions as to how to get round this will be gratefully received.