278 Manual of the Game Birds of I/idia. 



Peahen has been known to lay her eggs 

 in the fork of a large mango-tree. The 

 eggs vary in number from six to as many 

 as fifteen. They are very glossy and 

 closely pitted all over with minute pores. 

 In shape they are ovals, and the colour 

 varies from almost pure white to reddish 

 buff. Occasionally eggs are met with 

 which are thickly freckled with reddish 

 brown, but the majority are entirely 

 unspotted. The eggs vary in length from 

 2 '55 to 3 in length and from i'92 to 2*2 

 in breadth. 



It is unnecessary to describe the plumage 

 of the Peacock in detail, or to do more 

 than point out the characters by which the 

 present species differs from the Burmese 

 Peacock. The shape of the crest-feathers 

 is in itself, however, quite sufficient to 

 separate the two species. 



The chief points about the Common 

 Peacock are that the whole head, the 

 neck and the upper parts of the mantle 

 and breast are a rich purplish blue. The 

 first ten quills of the wing and their 

 coverts are chestnut ; a number of the 

 succeeding quills are black ; and the 

 remaining quills and all the wing-coverts, 

 except those already mentioned, are pale 

 buff irregularly barred with black. 



