70 ORNAMENTAL FOWL. 



The common people of Italy describe the peacock as having the 

 plumage of an angel, the voice of a devil, and the guts of a thief. 

 They were first brought from the East Indies, where they are still 

 found in vast flocks, in a wild state ; the head of the bird most 

 familiar to us, is adorned with a tuft of twenty-four feathers, 

 whose shafts are entirely bare, tipped with eyes of green and 

 gold ; the head, throat, neck, and breast, are of a deep blue, 

 adorned with green and gold ; the greater coverts and bastard 

 wings are of a reddish brown, as are also the quills, some of 

 which are variegated with black and green ; the belly and vent 

 are black, with a greenish hue ; but the distinguishing character 

 of this singular bird is in its train, which rises just above the 

 tail, and, when erected, forms a fan of the most splendid hues ; 

 the two middle feathers are sometimes four feet and a half long, 

 the others gradually diminishing on each side ; the shafts white, 

 and furnished from their origin, nearly to the end, with parted 

 filaments of various colours, ending in a flat vane, which is 

 decorated with what is called the eye ; the real tail consists of 

 short, stiff, brown feathers, which serve as a support to the train. 



When pleased or delighted, or in the sight of his females, the 

 peacock erects his train, and displays all the majesty of his 

 beauty ; all his movements are full of dignity ; his head and 

 neck bend nobly back ; his pace is slow and solemn, and he fre- 

 quently turns slowly and gracefully round, as if to catch the 

 sunbeams in every direction, and produce new colours of incon- 

 ceivable richness and beauty, accompanied, at the same time, 

 with a hollow, murmuring voice, expressive of desire ; the cry of 

 the peacock, at other times, is often repeated, and very disa- 

 greeable. The plumes are shed every year, and while moulting 

 them, the bird, as if humiliated, retires from view. 



They are frequently found entirely white, which occurs in a 

 wild state, as well as in domestication, and is not caused, as was 

 alleged by some, from being transported from a warm to a tem- 

 perate or cold climate ; this colour is, however, much more 

 frequent in domestication, than in its native country. Pied 

 varieties are sometimes seen ; and when the deep blue of the 

 neck and breast is contrasted, with pure white, they form a beau- 

 tiful appearance, and are much sought for by collectors. In the 

 white variety, the feathers, from retaining their structure, exhibit 

 the eyes, and all the markings of the tail, and other parts, dis- 

 tinctly, accordingly as the light falls upon them. 



The splendour of this bird has attracted the notice of the 

 earliest historians. At a remote period of English history, when 



