432 TFIE BRUSH TURKEY AND THE PEACOCK. 



The coloring of this bird is simple, but the tints are soft and pleasing. 

 The head is rich ruddy brown, the back of the neck blackish gray, 

 and the back and wings brownish cinnamon, deepening into dark 

 chestnut on the tail-coverts. The whole under surface is blackish 

 gray. The legs are orange, and the bill rusty brown. 



The Brush Turkey is found principally in the thick brushwood of 

 New South Wales. Mr. Gould, who first brought it before the public, 

 gives this curious account oi' its nest: "The mode in which the mate- 

 rials composing these mounds are accumulated is equally singular, the 

 bird never using its bill, but always grasping a quantity in its foot, 

 throwing it backward to one common centre, and thus clearing the 

 surface of the ground for a considerable distance so completely that 

 scarcely a leaf or a blade of grass is left. The heap being accumulated, 

 and time allowed for a sufficient heat to be^engendered, the eggs are 

 deposited, not side by side, as is ordinarily the case, but planted at the 

 distance of nine or twelve inches from each other, and buried at nearly 

 an arm's depth, perfectly upright, with the large end upward. They 

 are covered up as they are laid, and allowed to remain until hatched. 

 I am credibly informed, both by natives and settlers living near their 

 haunts, that it is not an unusual event to obtain nearly a bushel of 

 eggs at one time from a single heap ; and, as they are delicious eating, 

 they are eagerly sought after." 



When the Brush Turkey is disturbed, it either runs through the 

 tangled underwood with singular rapidity or springs upon a low branch 

 of some tree, and reaches the summit by a succession of leaps from 

 branch to branch. This latter peculiarity renders it an easy prey to 

 the sportsman. 



The large family of the Peacocks, or Pavouidss, now claims our 

 attention. 



The Peacock may safely be termed one of the most magnificent of 

 the feathered tribe, and may even lay a well-founded claim to the chief 

 rank among birds in splendor of plumage and effulgence of coloring. 

 We are so familiar with the Peacock that we think little of its real 

 splendor ; but if one of these birds had recently been brought to Eu- 

 rope for the first time, it would create a greater sensation than even 

 the hippopotamus or the gorilla. 



The Peacock is an Asiatic bird, the ordinary species being found 

 chiefly in India, and the Javanese Peacock in the country from which 

 it derives its name. In some parts of India the Peacock is extremely 

 common, flocking together in bands of thirty or forty in number, cover- 

 ing the trees with their splendid plumage and filling the air with their 

 horridly dissonant voices. Captain Williamson, in his Oriental Field 

 Sports, mentions that he has seen at least twelve or fifteen hundred 

 peacocks within sight of the spot where he stood. 



