XXVIII 

 A SWADESHI BIRD 



I COMMEND the common peafowl (Pavo cristatus) 

 to the Indian patriot, for it is a true Swadeshi 

 bird. It is made in India and nowhere else. 

 The beastly foreigner does, indeed, produce 

 a cheap imitation in the shape of Pavo ynuticus — the 

 Javan peafowl ; but with this the patriotic Indian bird 

 will have nothing to do. The two species are very like 

 in appearance, the most noticeable difference being in 

 the shape of the crest ; that of the Indian species is 

 Hke an expanded fan, while the cranial ornament of 

 the Javan species resembles a closed fan. Notwith- 

 standing their similarity they do not interbreed when 

 brought together. This, I am aware, was not Jerdon's 

 view. He stated that hybrids between the two species 

 were not rare in aviaries. In this particular instance 

 Jerdon, mirahile dictu, seems to have been wrong ; 

 he probably mistook the japanned variety of the 

 common bird for a hybrid. My experience tends to 

 show that the two species will not interbreed. Caste 

 feeling evidently runs high. 



Peafowl are distributed all over India ; they occur 

 in most localities suited to their habits, that is to say 



154 



