The Pheasant Introduction by Rafferty Autrobus (age 9)
Although a common sight in the English countryside, pheasants are actually native to Asia and are thought to have been introduced into Britain by the Romans. The pheasant is one of the world’s most hunted birds and records show that over 20 million birds are reared and released by gamekeepers in England every year. This gives the pheasant a very poor average life expectancy of only a year.
Pheasants Fly fast for short distances but prefer to run. Much like the Archaeopteryx, which was the first pre-historic winged reptile to be discovered and experts believe that it shared similarities, it flew in short bursts of flight. Pheasants are thought of as a good luck symbol due to a Burmese Hunter once finding an emerald in a pheasant and then returning to the pheasant’s home he found an emerald mine. If you are looking for ideas for your Christmas lunch, the Archbishop of York in 1465 once had a feast which consisted of at least 200 pheasants, 12 seals, 104 peacocks, 400 swans, 500 stags, 2000 geese, 4000 mallard and six boar. Imagine the washing up! Finally I would like to wish all my readers a wonderful and safe Christmas.
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