588 A VES — PEACOCK. 



To describe, in adequate terms, the dazzling beauties of this elegant bird 

 would be a task of no small difficulty. Its head is adorned with a tuft, 

 consisting of twenty-four feathers, whose slender shafts are furnished with 

 webs only at the ends, painted with the most exquisite green, mixed with 

 gold; the head, throat, neck, and breast, are of a deep blue, glossed with 

 green and gold; the greater coverts and bastard wings are of a reddish 

 brown, as are also the quills, some of which are variegated with black and 

 green ; the belly and vent are black, with a greenish hue : but the distin- 

 guishing character of this singular bird is its train, which rises just above the 

 tail, and, Avhen erected, forms a fan of the most resplendent hues ; the two 

 middle feathers are sometimes four feet and a half long, the others gradually 

 diminishing on each side ; the shafts, white, and furnished from their origin 

 nearly to the end with parted filaments of varying colors, ending in a fiat 

 vane, which is decorated with what is called the eye. The real tail consists 

 of short, stiff, brown feathers, which serve as a support to the train. When 

 pleased or delighted, and in sight of his females, the peacock erects his train, 

 and displays all the majesty of his beauty : all his movements are full of 

 dignity; his head and neck bend nobly back; his pace is slow and solemn, 

 and he frequently turns slowly and gracefully round, as if to catch the sun- 

 beams in every direction, and produce new colors of inconceivable richness 

 and beauty, accompanied at the same time with a hollow murmuring voice 

 expressive of desire. The cry of the peacock, at other times, is often repeat- 

 ed, and very disagreeable. The plumes are shed every year, and, while 

 moulting them, the bird, as if humiliated, retires from view. 



The peacock has, in some countries, been esteemed as an article of luxu- 

 ry; but whatever there may be of delicacy in the flesh of a young peacock, 

 it is certain an old one is very indifferent eating. Its fame for delicacy, how- 

 ever, did not continue very long ; for we find, in the time of Francis the 

 First, that it was a custom to serve up peacocks to the tables of the great, 

 with "an intention not to be eaten, but only to be seen. Their manner was 

 to strip off the skin ; and then preparing the body with the warmest spices, 

 they covered it up again in its former skin, with all its plumage in full dis- 

 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 unputrefied than that of any other ani- 

 mal. To give a higher zest to these entertainments, on weddings particularly, 

 they filled the bird's beak and throat with cotton and camphor, which they 

 set on fire to amuse and delight the company. Peacocks were highly 

 esteemed by the Romans, and the Bible mentions them among Solomon's 

 importations from the East. In the days of chivalry, also, they were in such 

 great repute as to be the subject of a knightly oath. 



Like other birds of the poultry kind, the peacock feeds upon corn; but its 

 chief predilection is for barley. There is, however, scarcely any food that it 

 will not at times covet and pursue. In the indulgence of these capricious 



