THE PEACOCK. 



With pendant train and rustling wings, 

 Aloft the gorgeous peacock springs; 

 And he, the bird of hundred dyes, 

 Whose plumes the dames of Ava prize. 



— Bishop Heber. 



IT WAS a saying among the an- 

 cients, "As beautiful as is the pea- 

 cock among birds, so is the tiger 

 among quadrupeds." The birds 

 are of many varieties, some white, oth- 

 ers with crests; that of Thibet being 

 considered the most beautiful of the 

 feathered creation. The first specimens 

 were brought to Europe from the East 

 Indies, and they are still found in flocks 

 in a wild state in the islands of Java 

 and Ceylon. The common people of 

 Italy describe it as having the plumage 

 of an angel, the voice of a devil and the 

 intestines of a thief. In the days ot 

 king Solomon his navies imported from 

 the East apes and peacocks, and ^Elian 

 relates they were brought into Greece 

 from some barbarous country, and that 

 a male and a female were valued at a 

 hundred and fifty dollars of our money. 

 It is said also that when Alexander was 

 in India he saw them flying wild on the 

 banks of the river Hyarotis, and was so 

 struck with their beauty that he im- 

 posed a fine on all who should slay or 

 disturb them. The Greeks were so 

 much taken with the beauty of this 

 bird, when first brought among them, 

 that it was shown for money, and many 

 came to Athens from surrounding coun- 

 tries to see it. It was esteemed a deli- 

 cacy at the tables of the rich and great 

 and the birds were fatted for the feasts of 

 the luxurious. Hortensius, the orator, 

 was the first to serve them at an enter- 

 tainment at Rome, and they were 

 spoken of as the first of viands. Barley 

 is its favorite food, but as it is a proud 

 and fickle bird there is scarce any food it 

 will at all times like. It lays waste the 

 labors of the gardener, roots up the 

 choicest seeds, and nips favorite flowers 

 in the bud. He requires five females 

 to attend him, often more. The pea- 

 hen is compelled to hide her nest from 

 ihim that he may not disturb her sitting. 

 .'She seldom lays a'bove a dozen eggs, 

 which are generally hatched about the 



beginning of November. Though the 

 peafowls invariably roost in trees, yet 

 they make their nests on the ground, 

 and 'ordinarily on a bank raised above 

 the common level. The nest consists 

 of leaves and small sticks. From Janu- 

 ary to the end of March, when the corn 

 is standing, the flesh is juicy and ten- 

 der, but during the dry season, when the 

 birds feed on the seeds of weeds and 

 insects, it becomes dry and muscular. 



In some parts of India peacocks are 

 extremely common, flocking together 

 in bands of thirty and forty in number, 

 covering the trees with their splendid 

 plumage and filling the air with their 

 dissonant voices. Captain Williamson 

 mentions that he saw at least twelve or 

 fifteen hundred from where he stood. 



Peacocks are very jealous of all 

 quadrupeds, especially of dogs. When 

 they are discovered in a tree situated 

 on a plain, if a dog is loose and hunts 

 near it, the birds will rarely move but 

 will show extreme uneasiness. One of 

 these birds in the north of Ireland was 

 a curious mixture of cruelty and fun. 

 He had four mates but he killed them 

 all successively by pecking them to 

 death, for what cause no one could as- 

 certain. Even his own offspring shared 

 the same fate, until his owner placed 

 the peafowl's eggs under a sitting hen 

 and forced her to hatch the eggs and 

 care for the young. His great amuse- 

 ment was to frighten the chickens. 

 There were two iron troughs in which 

 the food for the chickens was placed 

 daily. No sooner had they gathered 

 about them, when the' peacock would 

 erect his train, rattle his quills together 

 with that peculiar rustling sound that 

 is so characteristic of these birds, 

 and march slowly toward them. The 

 poor little chicks would slowly back 

 away from the troughs as the peacock 

 advanced, not wishing to lose sight of 

 the food yet not daring to remain in 

 defiance of their persecutor. By de- 



98 



