418 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 
caused dishes of the heads or brains of peacocks to be served. By 
degrees, however, they spread throughout the empire, and thus the 
Peacock has become naturalised in Europe. During several centuries 
its exquisite and delicate flesh was in very great. favour; but the 
importation of the Pheasant, and later that of the Turkey, introduced 
rivals who have taken pr ecedence for table honours. The Peacock is 
now bred principally for ornamental purposes ; even when it does 
make its appearance at some ceremonious repast, it is intended more 
to gratify the eye than the palate, for the carcase is invariably deco- 
rated with the bird’s resplendent tail. The Domestic Peacock, which 
is now the pride of our gardens and parks, is indigenous to India and 
the isles of the Eastern Archipelago, where they still live in large 
troops in the depths of the forests. They are so abundant in localities 
that it is said the traveller, Colonel Williamson, being delayed one 
day in the district of Jungleterry, counted not less than from 1,200 
to 1,500. ‘The Peacock runs with such rapidity that it often escapes 
pursuit by this means alone; it takes wing with difficulty, and flies 
slowly, though it can prolong its flight to a considerable distance. 
It feeds upon grain of all kinds, which it swallows without crushing. 
To roost for the night, it perches upon the limbs of the highest trees. 
In a state of domesticity it retains this fancy for elevated places, so 
takes pleasure in perching on the roofs of houses, even on the sum- 
mits of chimneys. Elevation appears to excite it, and to endow it 
with a spirit of vindictiveness and destruction, for when in such 
situations it will scatter tiles, or tear up thatch, as the case may be, 
doing frequently incalculable damage. This bird also commits great 
ravages in cultivated fields. ‘The Peacock at times utters deafening 
cries, which contrast unpleasantly with its dazzling plumage—one 
wishes for a more harmonious voice from such a magnificent hody. 
It is polygamcus. At the commencement of the spring the male 
displays to the females all the splendour of his plumage; struts, 
spreads his tail, glories in his own grandeur, and receives with 
pleasure the admiration which his charms draw forth. His vanity at 
that season knows no bounds; for the adulation of his wives is not 
sufficient for him, but he must have eulogiums from man. Complete 
master in the art of showing itself, it manages the transitions of light 
and shade so as to be presented to the greatest advantage. At the 
end of August this beautiful plumage falls off, not to come forth 
again till the spring. It is said that the Peacock is so ashamed of 
having lost that which was his pride, that he afterwards shuns the 
sight of man. This is better explained by the fact that the time of 
moulting is for it, as for all other birds, a period of sickness ; conse- 
