xiv LIST OF PHOTOGRAVURES 



Photogravure 79. SACRED WILD PEAFOWL IN INDIA . . Fadngpage 178 



Photographs by Wilham Beebe. 



Unique among birds of this group is the semi-domesticity of free peafowl in many parts of 

 India. They are considered sacred birds, and the priests often feed them near the temples, so 

 that, at times, hundreds may be seen coming at a stated hour for the food which they know will 

 be awaiting them. 



Yet they allow no familiarity, and one beautifully plumaged cock near the ruined palace of 

 the King of Oudh was so wary that I had to take the upper photograph in one-thousandth of 

 a second, as the bird dashed at full speed across an open space. 



Photogravure 80. INDIAN AND WHITE PEACOCKS WITH TRAINS SPREAD 



Photographs by William Beebe. Facijtg page 180 



There is no casual arrangement of the ocelli in the train, but, when all the feathers are 

 present and full grown, they show a very regular, mechanical design, a sequence of radiating 

 lines. The so-called "proud" pose of the head and neck is due rather to the necessity for a 

 complete change of balance, in order to support upright on their ends the one hundred to one 

 hundred and fifty great feathers in the train. 



There is no doubt that the birds appreciate an audience, and, in a park, will often approach 

 closely a crowd of people and deliberately display before them for a half-hour at a time. 



Photogravure 81. THE ACTIVITIES OF PEAFOWL . . . Fadngpage 182 



Photographs by William Beebe. 



1 



Not only is it necessary for the head and neck to be drawn stiffly back when the train is 

 spread, but the true tail is of great importance in acting as a posterior support. The twenty 

 great brown tail-feathers form a solid fan against which the five score or more tall shafts lean 

 securely. 



II 



Although truly tropical birds, and able to withstand the most extreme heat of the Indian 

 plains, peafowl adapt themselves to severe cold in northern countries, I have often seen these 

 birds go to roost in tall trees late on a winter evening, and next morning be completely hidden 

 from view in wet snow which had drifted over them. 



Ill 



In spite of the weight and obvious inconvenience of the great train of feathers, wild peacocks 

 are able to escape quickly by remarkably vertical flight, and to roost at night in the tallest trees. 

 At the breeding season, besides displaying before the hens, the cocks wage fierce battles with 

 one another, leaping and dodging and striking with their spurs at a rate of speed, and with an 

 activity, which seems quite independent of the weight and drag of the following, curving, twisting 

 train. 



Photogravure 82. WHERE THE GREEN PEAFOWL DRINK . Fadngpage 192 



Photographs by William Beebe. 



These splendid birds fly down from their roosts to some favourite spot along the jungle 

 rivers of Malay, usually a sand-bar at a bend w^here they can have a clear view of possible 

 danger both up and down stream. They must also watch the jungle behind for leopards and 

 great snakes, and the waters in front for crocodiles. When they have drunk they go slowly 

 off to feed, or, if disturbed before they are ready, they fly up into some neighbouring tree until 

 fear and suspicion have passed. 



Photogravure '^z. WHERE THE GREEN PEAFOWL FIND FOOD AND REST 



Photographs by William Beebe. Facing page 194 



After a leisurely morning drink, the birds feed; not in deep jungle where the sudden rush 

 of an enemy would find them helpless, but in an open glade with an abundance of white ant 

 nests, or else along the more exposed banks of the river itself. 



II 



As the heat of the day increases, the birds often work their way to the heart of a rotan 

 thorn tangle, and here doze and idly preen their plumage and wait for the coolness of after- 

 noon. No creature in the world can move quickly or quietly in such a maze of thorns and 

 cruel briers, and the birds are safe from all molestation. 



