38 THE PEACOCK. 



grain, and has a strong predilection for barley. It eagerly seeks 

 for insects and tender plants, and if it does not find a sufficient 

 supply of its favourite food, it will lay waste the labours of the 

 gardener, and destroy, in one day, the woik of many months. 



The peacock, or the peahen, has in some countries been 

 esteemed as an article of luxury for the table ; and although its 

 flesh be not at this time considered as a delicacy, it is certainly 

 far from being disagreeable, and is said to resist putrefaction 

 longer than that of any other animal. In the time of Francis I. 

 king of France, it was a custom to serve up a peacock at the 

 tables of the great, not for food but for ornament. The skin 

 was first carefully stripped off, and the body, being prepared 

 with the hottest spices, was again covered with it ; thus retain- 

 ing all its plumage in full display, uninjured by the preparation. 

 The bird thus prepared was often preserved for several years 

 without putrefaction, and served to add splendour to successive 

 entertainments. 



The peacock is a native of India and the other oriental coun- 

 tries of Asia, where it is yet found in its natural state; and nu- 

 merous flocks of them are still to be seen wild, in the islands of 

 Java and Ceylon. So beautiful a bird was not, however, suffered 

 long to remain concealed in its native retreats ; and we find 

 that so early as the time of Solomon it was made an article of 

 commerce, and is numbered among those which were imported 

 by his fleets. That prince was probably the first who introduced 

 the peacock into Judea ; and the Tyrians, his partners in trade, 

 undoubtedly imported it into their country ; but it is probable 

 that it had been already brought to Tyre, and no doubt to 

 Egypt also, previous to that period. The Greeks also showed 

 a strong predilection for this bird ; and we are told that the first 

 exhibition of a peacock at Athens, induced many persons to 

 travel from Lacedemon to that city, to gratify their curiosity 

 with the sight of so beautiful an object. Indeed, such a curiosity 

 was laudable ; for so magnificent a display of the work of the 

 Creator, especially when accompanied with the surprise of nov- 

 elty, certainly merited the contemplation of a philosopher. 



The peacock is said to live about twenty years. It plumage 

 does not acquire the perfection of its beauty, until it has attained 

 its third year. The peahen is much less beautiful than the pea- 

 cock. In the climate of England, she lays only five or six eggs, 

 but in warmer regions she is more prolific. The time of incuba- 

 tion is to her a time of solicitude, as she is obliged to conceal 

 hei retreat from the peacock, lest he should disturb her or 

 break her eggs, to which unnatural act he has a strong pro- 

 pensity. 



In an elegant publication entitled " Rural Sports, by the Rev. 



