Outside London 



could not have been starved. At a distance, the 

 rook's plumage appears black; but close at hand it 

 wil be found a fine blue-black, glossy, and handsome. 



These peacocks are the best " rain-makers " in 

 the place; whenever they cry much, it is sure to 

 rain; and if they persist day after day, the rain is 

 equally continuous. From the wall by the barn, or 

 the elm-branch above, their cry resounds like the 

 wail of a gigantic cat, and is audible half a mile or 

 more. In the summer, I found one of them, a pea- 

 cock in the full brilliance of his colours, on a rail in 

 the hedge under a spreading maple bush. His rich- 

 hued neck, the bright light and shadow, the tall green 

 meadow grass, brought together the finest colours. 

 It is curious that a bird so distinctly foreign, plumed 

 for the Asiatic sun, should fit so well with English 

 meads. His splendid neck immediately pleases, 

 pleases the first time it is seen, and on the fiftieth 

 occasion. I see these every day, and always stop to 

 look at them ; the colour excites the sense of beauty 

 in the eye, and the shape satisfies the idea of form. 

 The undulating curve of the neck is at once approved 

 by the intuitive judgment of the mind, and it is a 

 pleasure to the mind to reiterate that judgment 

 frequently. It needs no teaching to see its beauty 

 the feeling comes of itself. 



How different with the turkey-cock which struts 

 round the same barn! A fine big bird he is, no 

 doubt; but there is no intrinsic beauty about him; 

 on the contrary, there is something fantastic in his 

 style and plumage. He has a way of drooping his 

 wings as if they were armour-plates to shield him 

 from a shot. The ornaments upon his head and 

 beak are in the most awkward position. He was 

 put together in a dream, of uneven and odd pieces 

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