16G ANIMALS IN MENAGERIES. 



reign of king John, a fine was levied on one Ernald de 

 Aclent, among which peacocks' feathers formed one of 

 the items ; and even so late as queen EHzabeth's reign, 

 the ocellated feathers of the train were made into costly 

 fans : the price, however, douhtless, depended more 

 upon the value of the handles, which were generally of 

 silver, and sometimes of gold, than upon the feathers. 

 Albinos, or white peacocks, a^-e not uncommon ; yet, 

 even in these the ocellated spots may still be traced by a 

 different undulation in their shade. It has been said by 

 Dr. Latham, that the peacock has also been found in a 

 wild state in Africa ; but there seems no good authority 

 for this assertion, and we do not beheve it ; still less do 

 we attach any credit to that by the same writer, of its 

 being " found wild at St. Helena, also at Barbadoes, and 

 other West India islands ;" such localities appear to us 

 as improbable, as that England was one of the native 

 regions of the American humming-birds. 



Peacock-shooting is one of the field sports of our 

 countrymen in India. It is somewhat dangerous, how- 

 ever, inasmuch as the places they inhabit are also 

 such as are in general most frequented by the tiger. 

 When numbers are scattered in a jungle, it is easy to 

 get a shot ; but captain Williamson says he always 

 found much difficulty when the birds unite in flocks of 

 forty or fifty together, as at such times they suddenly 

 become extremely shy, they will not then rise on the 

 wing, and they run so remarkably fast, that a heavy 

 spaniel or pointer can seldom catch them. When on 

 the wing, like nearly all rasorial birds, they fly strong, 

 but very heavy; and if merely winged, they soon re- 

 cover their fall, take to their legs, and generally escape. 

 The most certain mode of killing one or two birds, is 

 by stealing under the trees at night, particularly when 

 the moon is sufficiently bright to enable the birds to be 

 clearly distinguished and easily shot. They may also 

 be run down by horsemen. When a bird is discovered 

 in a tree, which is frequently the case in those districts 

 where they are plentiful^ a person on an active and 



