THE PHEASANT. 283 



wonld be puzzled to determine which of the two has 

 the greatest claim to pre-eminence. Nothing, in- 

 deed, can satisfy the eye with a greater variety and 

 richness of ornament than the plumage of the phea- 

 sant, whether we regard the dazzling brilliancy of itB 

 colours, or their elegant mixture. It far surpasses all 

 the efforts of the pencil to exhibit tints so glossy and 

 so bright, or points so finely blended. 



Every scholar is acquainted with the story of Solon 

 the 'Greek philosopher and Croesus, king of Lydia. 

 We are told that the monarch being seated on his 

 throne, adorned with all the appendages of terrestrial 

 grandeur, asked Solon if he had ever seen so magnifi- 

 cent a spectacle ? The philosopher, nothing moved 

 by the pomp and pageantry with which he \vas sur- 

 rounded, coolly answered that " after having seen the 

 plumage of the pheasant he could not be astonished at 

 the sight of any other finery." This answer of the 

 Grecian sage is worthy of being recorded : it was 

 well calculated to remind that powerful and opulent 

 monarch of the inferiority of all artificial ornaments, 

 when compared with the magnificence of nature, and 

 of the insignificancy of all human greatness and splen- 

 dor before the Creator and Sovereign of the universe. 

 You will, my dear Sir, also remember that a far 

 greater personage than the Greek philosopher has 

 taught us the same important lesson, in saying that 

 all the magnificence of Solomon was not equal to the 

 splendor of the lilies. 



The beautiful bird which thus displays the energies 

 of nature merits a particular description. Its eyes 

 are surrounded with a ring of scarlet, sprinkled with, 

 sin all specks of black, and the iris yellow. The fore 

 part of the head is clothed with blackish feathers, 

 mixed with a shining purple; the top of the head and 

 the upper part .of the neck are tinged with a darkish 

 green, which bears a silky gloss. In some the top of 

 the head is of a shining blue, and the upper part of 

 the neck appears sometimes blue and sometimes 

 green, as it is differently placed to the eye of the 

 spectator. The feathers of the breast, the shoulders, 



