PHEASANTS. 



great adjacent islands : and these have been ascer- 

 tained to be specifically identical with our domes- 

 tic races. Colonel Sykes describes the species as 

 abundant in the dense woods of the Ghauts ; it is 

 readily domesticated, and many Hindoo temples 

 in the Deccan, as he informs us, have considerable 

 flocks of them. 



Colonel Williamson also, in his account of Pea- 

 cock-shooting, states that he had seen about the 

 passes in the Jungle tery District, surprising num- 

 bers of wild Pea-fowl. He speaks with admira- 

 tion of the whole woods being covered with their 

 beautiful plumage, to which the rising sun im- 

 parted additional brilliancy. Small patches of 

 plain among the long grass, most of them culti- 

 vated, and with mustard then in bloom, which 

 induced the birds to feed, increased the beauty of 

 the scene. " I speak within bounds," observes 

 the Colonel, " when I assert that there could not 

 be less than twelve or fifteen hundred Pea-fowls, 

 of various sizes, within sight of the spot where I 

 stood for near an hour." 



From the same respectable authority we learn 

 that it is easy to get a shot at these fine birds in 

 the jungle, but where they flock together, as 

 they do to the number of forty or fifty, there 

 is greater difficulty. Then they are not easily 

 flushed, and run very fast; so fast, indeed, that 

 the Colonel doubts whether a slow spaniel could 

 make them take wing. Their flight is heavy and 

 strong, generally within an easy shot ; if merely 

 winged, they frequently escape by swiftness of 

 foot. They roost on high trees, into which they 

 fly towards dusk. 



The flesh of the Peacock, when not old, is 



