TFE PEA FOWL. 187 



out-of-the-way nook ; and by feeding and encourage- 

 ment, they will soon be brought to dispose themselves 

 into a tableaux vivant, at whatever point of view the 

 tasteful eye may deem desirable. No one with a very 

 limited range should attempt to keep them at all. 

 But where they can be kept, they should be collected 

 in considerable numbers, that their dazzling effect may 

 be as impressive as possible. It should be understood, 

 however, that no vineyard be at hand The greenness 

 and sourness of the grapes, which caused the fox to 

 refrain, would be but a weak argument with them. 



Old birds, received at a distance, are difficult to 

 settle in a new home. Housing they do not like, and 

 will scarcely bear. Most liberal feeding is the best 

 bond of attachment, but even with that, they will un- 

 expectedly be off, and will, perhaps, be stopped on the 

 high road, like other suspicious vagrants. It is recom- 

 mended to procure a sitting of eggs, place them under 

 a hen turkey, and have the pleasure of watching their 

 whole progress, literally ab ovo. Those who are im- 

 patient to have a full-grown stock, should still select 

 birds not more than three years old. 



LAYING-, BROODING-, AND SUBSEQUENT TREATMENT. 



IN general, the peahen makes her nest on the bare 

 ground, amongst nettles, or rank weeds ; sometimes 

 she chooses the shelter of a young fir. The egg very 

 much resembles that of the ostrich in miniature, being 

 smooth, but indented all over with little dimples, as if 

 pricked with a large pin. It is somewhat bigger than 

 a turkey's egg, bulging considerably at the larger 

 end, of a dull, yellowish- white, and occasionally, but 

 not always, spotted, or rather freckled, with a few 

 small reddish-brown marks. The newly-hatched 

 chicks are streaked on the head and neck with alter- 

 nate stripes of dingy-yellow and pale-brown ; the legs 

 are of a dusky-yellowish tinge. 



The probable term of life of the pea fowl is eighteen 

 or twenty years ; and the young* poults may be eaten 



