The Eankiva Cock.- 



-BIRDS.- 



-TiiE Peacock. 



399 



to the great elongation of the central tail-feathers. 

 The general colour of the plumage is brownish, but it 

 is elegantly spotted and mottled with yellow and black. 

 The secondary quills, which are often nearly three 

 feet in length, are elegantly marked with a series of 

 large ocellated spots, and the tail-feathers are deep 

 chestnut, with numerous small white spots, each sur- 

 rounded by a black ring. The enormously developed 

 wing-feathers of this bird, instead of enabling it to fly 

 with great ease and rapidity, are really hindrances to 

 its activity in the air. It flies heavily, and only for 

 short distances, but runs with great speed, its large 

 wings assisting it when progressing with the wind. 

 When displaying himself before his females, the male 

 Argus Pheasant spreads his wings downwards, much 

 in the same manner as the turkey cock. The ocellated 

 spots on the secondaries then come into view, and 

 give the bird an elegant appearance. 



THE TRAGOPAN {Ceriorms satyr us) ^Vhte 18, fig. 

 68 — or Nepaulese Horned Pheasant, a native of 

 Thibet and Nepaul, is a beautiful but somewhat sin- 

 gular-looking bird. It is about the size of a large 

 fowl, and of a deep red colour, covered with numerous 

 white spots, each surrounded by a ring of black. The 

 Horned Tragopan is an Alpine species, occurring at 

 great altitudes on the mountains of Nepaul. Two 

 oijibree^ther species are known, all from the Hima- 

 l:iA'an range. 



/ THE BANKIVA COCK (Galliis Bankitms)—Vhte 18, 

 ng. 67 — which is generally believed to be the original 

 species of most of our domestic varieties of poultry, 

 will require but little notice. It closely resembles in 

 its plumage some of the ordinary dunghill cooks of 

 this country, although it is considerably less in size. 

 It is an inhabitant of several islands of the Eastern 

 archipelago. This bird appears to have been domes- 

 ticated in the east at a very early period, and must 

 have been introduced into Europe in very ancient 

 times. It was well known to the Greeks and Romans, 

 who, like our own people at a very recent period, 

 and many eastern nations at the present day, delighted 

 in the cruel spectacle of a cock-fight. Several other 

 species of the genus Gallus are found in the eastern 

 islands, especially Java and Sumatra, and some, 

 amongst which is — 



THE JUNGLE FOWL {Gallus Somieratii), also on 

 the continent of India. This is a fine bird, equalling 

 in size one of our common domestic fowls. It has a 

 large bright red comb and wattles. The general 

 colour of its plumage is a golden or reddish-orange, 

 with the breast and wings blackish-gray, and the tail 

 deep green. But its most singular character consists 

 in the dilatation of the apices of the shafts of all the 

 long hackles into flat elliptical plates. On the neck 

 these are of a golden-orange colour, whilst the barbs 

 are gray, so that this part appears covered with golden 

 spangles on a gray ground. 



PEACOCKS. 



THE COMMON PEACOCK [Pavo cristafits) a native 

 of the forests of continental India, is, perhaps, endowed 



with a more gorgeous plumage than any other bird, 

 except a few of his immediate allies. Nearly all his 

 feathers exhibit more or less metallic lustre. The 

 crown of his head is adorned with an elegant tuft of 

 slender stems, each supporting a small brilliant palette 

 at its extremity; his neck and breast are of the deepest 

 metallic blue, with surface tints of golden-green ; and 

 his tail-coverts, enormously elongated as in the other 

 species of tliis gi'oup, form a most magnificent train, 

 adorned with hundreds of splendid eye-like spots. 

 His general form, also, is exceedingly elegant, and 

 when he elevates and spreads his gorgeous train in the 

 sun, displaying it in every way, as if conscious of the 

 admiration he is exciting, the beholder is constrained 

 to admit that there is no creature upon which nature 

 has lavished her powers of adornment with a more 

 unsparing hand. The female is entirely of a sober 

 brownish tint. 



In its native regions the Peacock frequents the 

 jungles and forests, and feeds upon fruits, seeds, and 

 insects. It possesses considerable powers of flight, 

 and generally roosts in high trees. The females 

 deposit their eggs on a little grass placed on the ground 

 among bushes. The voice of the Peacock is exceed- 

 ingly harsh and discordant, its cry closely resembling 

 the word paon, which is its French name. The intro- 

 duction of this bird into Europe is ascribed to Alexander 

 the Great, but the date at which it was first brought 

 to this country is unknown. Although their flesh is 

 dry, and by no means dehcate, Peacocks formed a 

 favourite dish at great entertainments amongst the 

 Romans, and also found a place in the feasts of the 

 midiUe ages, when they were served up in their 

 feathers with great pomp. 



THE JAVANESE PEACOCK {Pavo muticus) is dis- 

 tinguished from the preceding species by having the 

 plumes of the crest of nearly equal breadth throughout, 

 without any naked shaft. It is also less brilliant in its 

 colours. It inhabits Java and Sumatra, and likewise 

 the continent of India. 



THE AKGDS POLYPLECTEON {Pohjplectron bical- 

 caralura). The Polyplectrons, so named from their 

 having two or more spurs on each tarsus, whilst the 

 true Peacocks, and all the other Phasianidse, have 

 only one, are further distinguished by the peculiar 

 construction of the tail, which has its superior coverts 

 considerably elongated, but still, less so than the true 

 tail-feathers, of which they cover only about two- 

 thirds. The fore part of the head is adorned in these 

 bii'ds with a sort of crest formed of elongated feathers. 

 These, in the present species, are brownish -black ; the 

 head and neck are blackish, with the throat nearly 

 white ; the upper surface is yellowish-brown, with 

 numerous black spots, and with an ocellated spot of a 

 fine bluish-green colour at the tip of each feather ; the 

 lower surface is brown ; the tail is composed of twenty- 

 two feathers, which form, when expanded, a broad 

 rounded fan. These, and the tail-coverts, which con- 

 stitute as it were a second tail, extending, as already 

 stated, about two-thirds of the length of the true tail- 

 feathers, are of a yellowish-brown colour, mottled with 

 black, and all of them bear near the extremity a pair 

 of most beautiful green spots, each surrounded by a 



