NATURAL HISTORY 



757 



wings and tail are short, the tarsi as well as the 

 toes naked, and the tarsi not spurred. The 

 greater part of the plumage is ash-grey finely 

 varied with brown and black. They feed on 

 grain and other seeds, insects and their larva* 

 and pupae, and are chiefly found in cultivated 

 grounds. Besides this species there are the red- 

 fegged, French, or Guernsey partridge, which 

 may now be found in considerable numbers in 

 different parts of England; the Greek partridge, 

 the African partridge, the Arabian partridge, 

 the Indian partridge. The name partridge is 

 applied in the United States to several North 

 American species of the genus Ortyx or quails. 



Passion-flower. Alargegenusof twining 

 plants belonging to the natural order Passiflora- 

 ceae. They are all twining plants, often scram- 

 bling over trees to a considerable length, and in 

 many cases are most beautiful objects, on ac- 

 count of their large, rich, or gaily-colored flowers, 

 which are often succeeded by orange-colored 

 edible fruits, for which indeed they are chiefly 

 valued in the countries where they grow wild. 

 Passiflora laurifolia produces the water lemon 

 of the West Indies, and passiflora maliformis 

 bears the sweet calabash. The name is applied 

 more especially to passiflora cserulea, which is 

 commonly cultivated in England out of doors, 

 and is the one to which the genus owes its name. 



Peacock. The common name of a genus 

 of beautiful birds, including only the common 

 peacock and the Javanese peacock. The name 

 properly belongs to the male, but it is popularly 

 applied to the species in general; though the 

 female i-. fur di-tinct ion's sake, called a peahen. 

 Like other domesticated birds, the common pea- 

 cock exhibits several varieties. The ordinary 

 length of this splendid bird, from the tip of the 

 bill to that of the full-grown fan-expanded tail, 

 is about four feet. The female is rather less; 

 and her train is not only very short, but desti- 

 tute of those brilliant hues and striking beauties 

 which adorn the male; her crest, too, is less 

 developed, and her whole plumage partakes of 

 a cinereous hue. When pleased, tne peacock 

 erects his tail, unfolds his feathers, and fre- 

 quently turn- round, :is if to catch the sunbeams 

 in every direction, accompanying this movement 

 with a hollow murmuring. At other times his 

 i\>\c, ami often repeated, 

 especially before rain. Every year he sheds hU 

 plumes, and courts the most obscure retreats 

 till the returning spring renews his lu-tet. 1 In- 

 Javanese peacock resembles the common kind, 

 but has a larger crest. 



Peccary. A genus of quadruped-, nearly 



allied to swine. Tnese animals are exclusively 



confined to America, in which continent they 



represent the true swine of the Old World. In 



! form the peccaries re-emMe small pi^>. 



The be species are the collared peccary 



and the white lipped peccary. The former oc 



curs abundantly in South 'America, and al-o 



extends into North nerally 



do not 1, . at lack 



with their t . 'ie who meddle^ with them. 



Their food potatoes, sugar- 



and similar mate: i cultivated 



fields suffer much from their raids. 

 of peccary is readily domesticated. The flesh is 



I savory, and less fat than pigs' flesh. The peccary 

 possesses a glandular sac or pouch, situated in 



; the loins, which secretes a strongly-smelling fluid 

 of foetid nature. This must be cut away im- 



' mediately on killing a peccary, to avoid con- 

 taminating the flesh. 



Pelican. The popular name applied to a 

 species of a genus of lairds, characterized by pos- 



I sessing a long, straight, broad, and much-de- 



i pressed bill, the upper mandible being flat and 



! terminating in a very strong hook, and the 

 lower mandible being formed by two long 

 branches, flexible and united at the tip. From 

 these branches is suspended naked skin, in the 

 form of a pouch, of considerable elasticity, and 

 capable of holding a large number of fish. In 

 this pouch these birds stow away the results of 

 their fishing excursions, after having satisfied 

 the immediate cravings of their stomachs. The 

 pelicans are large, ungainly-looking birds, about 



j six feet long, with an expanse of wing of about 

 thirteen feet, and having webbed feet. In their 

 habits they are gregarious, and frequent the 

 banks of rivers and lalces or the sea-coast. There 

 are nine species distributed over the temperate 

 and tropical zones, and two of these occur in 

 Eastern Europe. 



Penguin. The name given to a group of 

 birds which form in themselves the order Im- 

 pennes, so called on account of their wings, which 

 are very small in comparison with the size of 

 their bodies. These wings are hard in texture, 

 are covered with small stiff feathers of a l>ri>tly 

 nature, and, being only movable at their base, 

 are absolutely useless for flight; but the birds 

 swim well, using both their webbed feet and 

 their wings. The penguins of which there are 

 about eighteen species, are entirely confined to 

 the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic regions, 

 where they represent the auks and divers of the 

 Northern seas. During the breeding season 

 they resort to rocky islands in immense numbers, 

 and stand erect with their eggs under them. 

 Their food con-i-ts chiefly of fish, in diving to 

 obtain which their plumeless wings are used as 

 fins. 



Peony. A genus of plants very generally 

 cultivated in gardens for tne sake of their large 

 showy flowers. The species are mostly herbace- 

 ous, having perennial tuberous roots and large 

 deeply-lobed leaves. The flowers are solitary, 

 and of a variety of colors, crimson, purplish, 

 pink, yellow, and white. The flowers, now- 

 ever, Have no smell, or not an agreeable one, 

 except in the case of a shrubby species, a native 

 of China, of which several varieties, with beauti- 

 ful whitish flowers stained with pink, are culti- 

 vated in gardens. The roots and seed- of all 

 the species are emetic and cathartic in moderate 

 doses. The common peony of cottage garden-. 

 was formerly in great repute as a medic -me. 



Pepper. A name applied to various plants 

 havini: pungent, acrid, and aromatic properties. 

 The most important i- the Mack pepper, a native 

 Of the Ka-t In. lies, and now extensively culti- 

 vated in the tropics for the fruit, which is used 



>u- purposes, but chiefly as a -5 

 a condiment. It is a climbing -hrub. with 

 v leaves, and -pike< of her- 

 maphrodite flowers. Th fruit, which is about 



