PEDIGREE.—The pedigree (or genealogical descent) of a horse is in the present day so fabricated by _hearsay_, or framed by _fiction_, that nothing less than a well-authenticated certificate, under the hand of the BREEDER, can with propriety be received as an indisputable proof of the PURITY of his BLOOD: and this is the more evidently necessary to a SPORTSMAN, lest he should be induced (relying upon his _deceptive_ pedigree) to enter into a racing engagement, and that too, perhaps, for a sum of much magnitude; the whole of which, with the additional training expences, might be lost for want of that very blood he has been villainously taught to believe he has got in possession. To such an enthusiastic pitch has the desire of pedigree attained, under the fashionable sporting phrenzy of the time, that a horse is absolutely considered of neither value or utility, unless his pedigree is properly attested, and he is known to "carry the catalogue of his endowments by his side." The DEALERS (as well as others) are so well aware of this partiality for _blood_ and _pedigree_, that every common roadster has the _report_ of his _get_ ready prepared, and no purchaser need be without it. Upon the subject of authenticated pedigrees, for near a century past, MR. WEATHERBY'S STUD BOOK is, beyond a doubt, the first publication extant. The great merit and CREDIT of a PEDIGREE, consists in its continued and undivided chain of proofs on the distinct sides of both SIRE and DAM, up to such links as are eminently connected with the known authority, where no contamination could have taken place. A pedigree of one single descent is amply sufficient, where the reference terminates on _each_ side, in a SIRE and DAM, whose pedigrees and performances are previously known. Instance: _Jupiter_ was got by _Eclipse_, dam by _Tartar_; he is own brother to _Mercury_, _Venus_, and _Volunteer_; sire of _Cardock_, _Halkin_, _Thunderbolt_, _Confederacy_, _Terror_, _Contest_, &c. PHEASANT.—The pheasant is not only the most beautiful bird in plumage of any bred in this kingdom, but the first in estimation; not more for the sport it affords in the field, than its delicious attraction for the table. They are about one fourth less in size than common poultry, lay nearly the same number of eggs, and bring up their young in the same manner. They principally frequent the WOODS and hedge-rows, are seldom found in the fields, and then but very rarely far from _covert_: when upon WING, they are so exceedingly _slow_ in flight, that he must be an exceeding _bad_ marksman who does not HIT his BIRD. The pheasant is included in every successive Act for the preservation of the game; and although they are less liable than HARES and PARTRIDGES to the destructive depredations of the POACHERS, they suffer considerably by FOXES, MARTERNS, POLE-CATS, and other vermin.