218 AFFECTION OF A PEACOCK TO HIS MATE. 



attachments of the conjugal kind, the instances of 

 affection towards their mates are so striking, and so 

 numerous, that it would be an endless task to par- 

 ticularize them; but I cannot resist mentioning one 

 that happened under my own eye since I have been 

 in Wales. Mrs. Saville had a pair of beautiful pea- 

 fowls, that were the chief ornaments of her poultry- 

 yard, and remarkably fond of each other. It hap- 

 pened, unluckily, that a fox, who had been for 

 some time the depredator of the neighbouring hen- 

 roosts, found his way into our yard, and, in an un- 

 guarded moment, seized the poor peahen, and carried 

 her off. The robber, by some accident, being dis- 

 turbed in his flight, left his prey undevoured in the 

 hedge at the bottom of the orchard. The body 

 being found, was brought home, and after being 

 honoured by the lamentations of the whole family, 

 was deposited upon the dunghill. In the mean 

 time, the peacock missed his companion, and with 

 anxious search paraded about the yard, till at last 

 he discovered her remains, and, no doubt hoping 

 to cherish her with his warmth, sat down upon them, 

 and continued his post for three days, till, finding 

 all his efforts ineffectual, he at length gave up the at- 

 tempt. 



Dogs have frequently watched by their masters' 



