HABITS OF THE PEACOCK. 005 



They abound chiefly in close wooded forests, particularly where there is an extent 

 of long grass for them to range in. They are very thirsty birds, and will only remain 

 where they can have access to water, lllmr plantations are their favourite shelter, 

 being close above so as to keep off the solar rays, and open at the bottom sufficiently 

 to admit a free passage for the air. If there be trees near such spots, the Peacocks may 

 be seen mounting into them every evening towards dark to roost ; and in which they 

 generally continue till the sun rises, when they descend to feed, and pass the midday 

 in the heavy coverts. 



They are very jealous of all quadrupeds, especially of dogs ; no doubt from finding 

 the jackal, and probably the tiger, to be such inveterate enemies. When Peacocks are 

 discovered in a tree, situated on a plain, if a dog be loose and hunt near it, the bird will 

 rarely move from it, though it will probably show extreme uneasiness. 



But the most certain mode of killing one or two birds is by stealing under the trees 

 at night ; if there be a clear moon, so much the better. In this way, by looking up 

 among the foliage, the Peacocks may be readily distinguished. When they are very 

 numerous, and only one bird is wanted, as certain a mode as any is to lie in wait behind 

 a bush near their feeding haunts ; but without the most perfect silence this will not 

 succeed. 



Though Pea-fowls invariably roost in trees, yet they make their nests on the ground, 

 and ordinarily on a bank raised above the common level, where in some sufficient bush 

 they collect leaves, small sticks, &c. and sit very close. I have on several occasions 

 seen them in their nests, but as I refrained from disturbing them, they did not offer to 

 move, though they could not fail to know that they were discovered. They usually sit 

 on about a dozen or fifteen eggs. They are generally hatched about the beginning of 

 November; and from January to the end of March, when the corn is standing, are 

 remarkably juicy and tender. When the dry season comes on, they feed on the seeds of 

 weeds and insects, and their flesh becomes dry and muscular." 



Peacock-shooting, although an exciting sport, is a dangerous one, the tiger feeling 

 himself suited by the rhur and other vegetation in which the peacock delights, so that 

 an inexperienced sportsman may suddenly find himself face to face with a tiger, and 

 run a strong chance of being himself the object of pursuit. Old hunters, however, who 

 know the habits of the Peacock, find that bird extremely useful in denoting the 

 presence of tigers. When the Peacock find itself in close proximity to a tiger or even 

 a wild cat, it raises the sound of alarm, which is a loud hoarse cry, answered by those 

 within hearing. The bird then utters a series of sharp quick grating notes, and gets 

 higher into the trees so as to be out of reach of the tiger's claws. 



In this country the Peacock is very common, and forms a magnificent adjunct to 

 the lawn, the park, the garden, and the farmyard. The evident admiration and self- 

 consciousness with which a Peacock regards himself are truly amusing, the bird always 

 looking out for spectators before it spreads its train, and turning itself round and round 

 so as to display its beauties to the best advantage. At night it always roosts in some 

 elevated spot ; and invariably sits with its head facing the wind. Several Peacocks, 

 whom I used to see daily, always roosted upon the thatch of a corn-rick, their long trains 

 lying along the thatch so closely that towards dark they could hardly be seen. In 

 character, the Peacock is as variable as other creatures, some individuals being mild and 

 good-tempered, while others are morose and jealous to the extreme. 



One of these birds, living in the north of Ireland, was a curious mixture of cruelty 

 and fun. He had four wives, but he killed them all successively by pecking them to 

 death, for what cause no one could find out. Even its own children shared .the same 

 fate, until its owner put the Pea-fowl eggs under a sitting hen, and forced her to hatch 

 the eggs and tend the young far out of his sight. 



His great amusement was to frighten the chickens. There were two iron troughs 

 in which the food for the chickens was placed daily, and to which they always resorted 

 as soon as their food was poured into their troughs. No sooner had they all assembled 

 than the Peacock would erect his train, rattle his quills together with that peculiar 

 rustling sound that is so characteristic of those bird?, and march slowly towards the 



