THE FARMER AT HOME. 



321 



But this brilliant plumage, which exceeds the lustre of the finest 

 flowers, fades, like them, every year, and drops in the moulting sea- 

 son ; when the poor bird, as if afflicted on account of his loss, and 

 afraid to be seen in so humiliating a condition, always seeks to con- 

 ceal himself in some gloomy retreat, till the return of spring again 

 restores him his splendid dress. At that season he resumes his sta- 

 tion in the open field, to receive the homage due to his beauty ; for it 

 is alleged, that nothing so much gratifies his pride as the admiration 

 of his gaudy apparel. 



PEACOCK. 



Peacocks, though spread over the greatest part of Europe, came 

 originally from India ; where they are found in vast flocks, in some 

 parts of the hither peninsula and the Islands of the Indian ocean. So 

 early as the days of Solomon, they were imported into Judea, by the 

 fleets which that monarch equipped upon the Red Sea ; and which, 

 in all probability, traded to the coast of Malabar. 



When the peacock was first brought into Greece, it was only to 

 gratify the eye with the sight of his plumage. The Romans, howev- 

 er, who were richer, and carried by consequence every excess of 

 luxury to a greater length, soon served them up as one of their most 

 delicate dishes. Hortensius, the orator, is said to have first made the 

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