PEACOCK PHEXSXNT. —ri>!yp!ectron Naiiolcunis 



SO called in remembrance of the ill-fated Argus of mythology, whose hundred eyes never 

 slept simultaneously until cliarmed by the magic lyre of Mercury. 



Tliis magnificent bird is remarkable for the very great length of its tail-feathers and 

 the extraordinary development of the secondary feathers of the wings. While walking 

 on the ground, or sitting on a bough, the singular length of the feathers is not very 

 striking, l)ut when the bird spreads its wings, as shown in the smaller figure in the back- 

 ground, they come out in all their beauty. As might be supposed from the general 

 arrangement of the plumage, the bird is by no means a good flier, and when it takes to 

 the air, only flies for a short distance. In running, its wing;s are said "to be efficient 

 aids. 



Although the Argus is hardly larger than an ordinary fowl, the plumage is so greatly 

 developed that its total lengtli measures more than five feet. The head and back of tlio 

 neck are covered with short brown feathers, and the neck and upper part of the breast 

 are warm chestnut-brown covered with spots of yellow and black, and similar tints 

 are formed on the back. The tail is deep chestnut, covered with white spots, each spot 

 being surrounded with a black ring. When tht; bird chooses, it can raise the tail, so that 

 it stands boldly in the air between the wings and is partially spread. The secondaries of 

 the wings are most wonderful examples of pbnnage, and would require many pages to 

 describe them fully. Suitice it to say that the gradations of .jetty black, deep rich brown, 

 orange, fawn, olive and white are so justly and boldly ai'ianged as to form admirable studies 

 for the artist, and totally to baflie description. 



In one feather now before me there an; seventeen hu'ge "eyes" on the outer web, vndi 

 being surrounded with a ring of jetty black, then with a dash of chocolate within the 



