66 



HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



play, and no way injured by the preparation. 

 The bird thus prepared was often preserved 

 for many years without corrupting ; and it is 

 asserted of the peacock's flesh, that it keeps 

 longer unputrified than that of any other ani- 

 mal. To give a higher zest to these enter- 

 tainments, on weddings particularly, they 

 filled the bird's beak and throat with cotton 

 and camphire, which they set on fire, to amuse 

 and delight the company. I do not know that 

 the peacock is much used at our .entertain- 

 ments at present, except now and then at an 

 alderman's dinner, or common-council feast, 

 when our citizens resolve to be splendid ; and 

 even then it is never served with its cotton 

 and camphire. 



Like other birds of the poultry kind the 

 peacock feeds upon corn, but its chief predi- 

 lection is for barley. But as it is a very 

 proud and fickle bird, there is scarcely any 

 food that it will not at times covet and pur- 

 sue. Insects and tender plants are often 

 eagerly sought at a time that it has a suffi- 

 ciency of its natural food provided more near- 

 ly. In the indulgence of these capricious 

 pursuits walls cannot easily confine it ; it strips 

 the tops of houses of their tiles or thatch, it 

 lays waste the labours of the gardener, roots 

 up his choicest seeds, and nips his favourite 

 flowers in .the bud. Thus its beauty but ill 

 recompenses for the mischief it occasions ; and 

 many of the more homely looking fowls are 

 very deservedly preferred before it. 



Nor is the peacock less a debauchee in its 

 affections, than a glutton in its appetites. He 

 is still more salacious than even the cock ; and 

 though not. possessed of the same vigour, yet 

 burns with more immoderate desire. He re- 

 quires five females at least to attend him ; and 

 if there be not a sufficient number, he will 

 even run upon and tread the sitting hen. For 

 this reason, the peahen endeavours as much as 

 she can, to hide her nest from the male, as he 

 would otherwise disturb her sitting, and break 

 her eggs. 



The peahen seldom lays above five or six 

 eggs in this climate before she sits. Aristotle 

 describes her as laying twelve ; and it is pro- 

 bable in her native climate she may be thus 

 prolific; for it is certain, that in the forests 

 where they breed naturally, they are numer- 

 ous beyond expression. This bird lives about 

 twenty years ; and riot till its third year has it 

 that beautiful variegated plumage that adorns 

 its tail. 



" In the kingdom of Cambaya," says Ta- 

 vernier, " near the city of Baroch, whole 

 flocks of them are seen in the fields. They 

 are very shy, however, and it is impossible to 

 come near them. They run off swifter than 

 the partridge ; and fade themselves in the 

 thickets, where it is impossible to find them. 



They perch by night upon trees ; and the 

 fowler often approaches them at that season 

 with a kind of banner, on which a peacock is 

 painted to the life on either side. A lighted 

 torch is fixed on the top of this decoy ; and the 

 peacock when disturbed flies to what it takes 

 for another, and is thus caught in a noose pre- 

 pared for that purpose." 



There are, varieties of this bird, some of 

 which are white, others crested : that which is 

 called the Peacock of Thibet is the most beau- 

 tiful of the feathered creation, containing in 

 its plumage all the most vivid colours, red, 

 blue, yellow, and green, disposed in an almost 

 artificial order, as if merely to please the eye 

 of the beholder. 1 



CHAP. IV. 



TIIE TURKEY. 



THE natal place of the cock and the peacock 

 is pretty well ascertained, but there are strong- 

 er doubts concerning the turkey ; 2 some con- 

 tending that it has been brought into Europe 

 from the East Indies many centuries ago ; 

 while others assert that it is wholly unknown 

 in that part of the world, that it is a native oi 



i The Japan Peacock (See Plate XVIII. fig. 5.) is 

 about the size of the crested peacock; but the bill is lar- 

 ger, "and ash-coloured ; the iris yellow, and round the eye 

 is red. On the top of the head is an upright crest four 

 inches long, and shaped somewhat like an ear of corn. 

 The colour is green mixed with blue. 



The Chinese peacock (See Plate XVIII. fig. 3.) is 

 larger than the common peacock: the bill is black, but 

 from the nostrils to the tip of the upper mandible red: 

 the iris is yellow. The feathers on the crown of the 

 head are sufficiently long to form a crest of a dull brown 

 colour. 



The Thibet peacock is about two feet and two inches 

 long. The bill is above an inch and a half long, and 

 cinereous ; the iris yellow ; the head, neck, and under 

 parts are ash-coloured, marked with blackish lines; the 

 wing-coverts, back, and rump are gray, with small white 

 dots: besides which, on the wing-coverts and back are 

 large round spots, of a fine blue, changing in different 

 lights to violet .and green gold. 



The variety of White Peacocks is not very common, 

 and these birds always bring a high price. 



* It is now indubitably ascertained that the Turkey 

 comes originally from America. See the following note. 



