THE PEA FOWL. 189 



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a yard in height ; in a fortnight, they will roost on 

 trees, or the tops of sheds ; and in a month or six 

 weeks, you would see them on the ridge of the barn, 

 if there are any intermediate low stables, or other 

 building, that would help them to mount from one to 

 to the other. 



If fatted, the pea fowls should be shut up together 

 with any turkeys they may have been in the habit of 

 associating with, and fed exactly the same. If con- 

 fined alone, they pine. They are, however, an excel- 

 lent viand at a much more advanced age, and without 

 any more fatting, provided they have been well fed, 

 and killed at a proper season ; that is, when they are 

 not renewing their plumage, and are in the larder 

 hung up a sufficient time before cooking. A disregard 

 to these points has probably led to their being so little 

 appreciated as a dainty dish. Pork, in the dog days, 

 and illegal oysters, might, in a similar manner, give a 

 bad repute to other good things, did we not manage them 

 better. When dressed for table, they should be larded 

 over the breast, covered with paper, roasted by a gentle 

 fire, and served with brown gravy, exactly like par- 

 tridges or pheasants. When moulting, extra diet and 

 varieties of food, including hemp seed and animal sub- 

 stances, are most desirable. 



