BRITISH BIRDS. 



THE PEACOCK. 



This beautiful bird was brought into Palestine in the 

 reign of Solomon, from the countries farther to the 

 east and south. That rich and powerful monarch had 

 a taste for natural history, and, at certain times, his 

 fleets returned laden with the most curious and valuable 

 products of distant regions. No wonder, then, that his 

 servants, struck by the elegant shape, the majestic mien, 

 and the splendid plumage of this bird, were anxious to 

 present it to their sovereign ; and that we read, " once 

 in three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, 

 and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks." 



It is probable, that as the pheasant owes her name to 

 the Phasis, a river of Colchis, on the banks of which 



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