238 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS AND PLANTS 



The peacock. History shows this bird to have been an ancient 

 table favorite in the Far East, but he has passed his period of 

 favor and is now relegated to a back-yard ornament, if, indeed, 

 he rises much above the level of a curiosity. 



The peafowl, which is really one of the most gorgeous of 

 pheasants, still dwells in the wild state in northern India and 

 southeastern Asia, the most common species of India, Pavo 

 cristatiis, being closest to the domesticated race. Among his 

 nearest relatives, structurally as well as geographically, are the 

 peacock pheasants of the Malay Peninsula, extending even to 

 the island of Borneo. The beautiful Argus pheasant has the 

 eyespots in the wing rather than the tail, as in the true pheas- 

 ant, and accordingly it is the wing that is displayed. 



The swan. This bird, too, was anciently used for food, but 

 is now seen only as an ornament in public and private lakes 

 and ponds. The original abounds in nearly all the northern 

 waters of the world, and ranges from pure white to solid black. 



The guinea fowl. This noisy little hen is hardly worthy of 

 being ranked as a domesticated fowl. The guinea is really an 

 African pheasant, of which several distinct and widely different 

 species are found wild along the western coast, from Liberia 

 southward. It is rarely kept in numbers, but a few are often 

 found with other poultry, " to scare off the hawks." 



Additional Races and Semidomestication 



Besides these animals with which we are best acquainted other 

 species have been wholly or partially domesticated, either by our- 

 selves or by other people, either in our own or other countries. 



As the buffalo replaces our common cattle for labor in certain 

 humid regions, so the elephant is extensively employed wher- 

 ever he is found native, as in Asia and Africa. The camel is, 

 and always will be, the ship of the desert. 



The llama and the alpaca of the Andean plateau — the one 

 to bear burdens, the other for its fleece — are both well known 



