Fair game?

摘要

What did the Romans ever do for us? Well, apart from introducing straight roads, baths, irrigation, sewage systems and public order to the British Isles, they brought pheasants. Like Julius Caesar, the pheasants came, they saw and - to some extent - they conquered our countryside. And of course, unlike the Romans, they are very much still here. The ring-necked, or common, pheasant looks good and tastes good, and as a result is one of the most successful species of bird in the world. Having found a way into our hearts - largely through our stomachs - it persuaded us to transport it from its native Asian home, which stretches from the Caucasus east to China and Korea. Now the bird is flourishing across much of Europe, as well as in North America, Tasmania and New Zealand.