146 CRESTED PEACOCK. 



the following contrivance adopted by the fowler* 

 in the East. A kind of banner is prepared, having 

 some lighted candles fitted upon it, and paintings 

 of Peacocks ; this (during the darkness of the night) 

 is held up in the trees upon which the birds 

 roost ; they, being dazzled by the light, or de- 

 ceived by the figure, stretch out their necks re- 

 peatedly, till they become entangled in a noose, 

 fixed for the purpose, and the fowler draws- the 

 cord and secures his victims. Tavernier asserts 

 that in some parts they are caught by means of a 

 kind of birdlime. 



In these climates the females lay but four or five 

 eggs at a time, but in their native state they are 

 much more fertile : she always chooses some se- 

 questered or secret spot to deposit them, as the 

 male is apt to break them ; they are like those 

 of the Turkey, being white and speckled. The 

 incubation occupies from twenty-seven to thirty 

 days, according to the temperature of the climate, 

 or the warmth of the season. The young acquire 

 the perfect brilliancy of plumage in their third 

 year, but in colder climates they require great 

 care in rearing : they feed upon meal and insects, 

 and when they are six or seven months old they 

 will eat wheat and various sorts of grain, like other 

 gallinaceous birds : they are said to be killed by 

 eating the flowers of the elder. Aristotle affirms 

 that they live about twenty-five years, but by 

 Willoughby and others they are supposed to live 

 nearly a hundred : the former opinion appears to 

 be most agreeable to nature. 



