THE PEA-FOWL. 75 



vai'ying hues, purple, or green, or bronze. 

 But who can copy these glittering tints, this 

 ever-varying effulgence? Art shrinks from 

 the attempt. The female or pea-hen is desti- 

 tute of these exquisite plumes, and is far 

 inferior in beauty to the male ; like him, how- 

 ever, she has an aigrette on the top of the 

 head composed of twenty-four feathers : these 

 resemble in miniature the feathers of the train, 

 but are less brilliant. The male is furnished 

 with spurs, and will sometimes use them with 

 severity. We knew a gentleman who, when 

 young, had his Hp cut open by a blow from 

 an angry peacock. 



Though these birds roost on the highest 

 branches of tall trees, and are fond of perch- 

 ing on elevated sites, stiU the female incu- 

 bates on the ground ; the chosen spot being 

 concealed amidst bushes and jungles. The 

 iiest consists merely of a few sticks and 

 twigs put together with dried leaves. The 

 eggs are from five or six to ten in number. 

 The female sits assiduously, but the male, in- 

 fluenced by a strange antipathy, will break 

 the eggs if he can discover them. It is, there- 

 fore, necessary in the case of the domesticated 

 birds to prevent the possibility of any inter- 



