The Peacock. 305 



feathers, each of which is composed of a slender stem 

 and a small tuft at the top. Displayed with conscious 

 pride, and exposed under a variety of angles to the 

 reflections of light, the broad and variegated disks of 

 his train, of which the neck, head, and breast of the 

 bird become the centre, claim our admiration. By an 

 extraordinary mixture of the brightest colours, it displays 

 at once the richness of gold, and the paler tints of silver, 

 fringed with bronze- coloured edges, and surrounding 

 eye-like spots of dark brown and sapphire. The hen 

 does not share in the beauty of the cock, and her feathers 

 are generally of a light brown. She lays only a few 

 eggs at a time, generally at an interval of three or four 

 days ; they are white and spotted, like the eggs of the 

 turkey. She sits from twenty-seven to thirty days. 



The loud screamings of the Peacock are worse than the 

 harsh croakings of the raven, and a sure prognostic of 

 bad weather; and his feet, more clumsy than those of 

 the turkey, make a sad contrast with the elegance of his 

 plumage : 



" Though richest hues the Peacock's plumes adorn, 

 Yet horror screams from his discordant throat." 



The spreading of the train, the swelling of the throat, 

 neck, and breast, and the puffing noise which they emit 

 at certain times, are proofs that the Turkey and the Pea- 

 cock stand nearly allied in the family chain of animated 

 beings. 



The flesh of the Peacock was anciently esteemed a 

 princely dish ; and the whole bird used to be served on 

 the table with the feathers of the neck and tail preserved ; 

 but few people could now relish such food, as it is much 

 coarser than the flesh of the turkej 7 . The Italians have 

 given this laconic description of the Peacock : " He has 

 the plumage of an angel, the voice of a devil, and the 

 stomach of a thief." 



