INDIAN PEAFOWL 165 



breaking point ; the head was bent forward in a position which a taxidermist would 

 have been ashamed to imitate ; the body was partly hidden by the grass. Suddenly it 

 gave a leap into the air, a single spring and flick of wing sending it up six feet and over 

 in a half-circle, the long train fanning out into a feathery mist. It alighted and slowly 

 approached the spot of interest again, and after a period of intense gazing, it repeated 

 the manoeuvre. This time I saw something brown shoot quickly across an opening and 

 then, whatever it was, the Peacock seemed to trail it for several yards and bring it to 

 bay again. This was in an open spot, clear of turf. Slowly, with infinite caution, I got 

 my glasses up and focused. First a blur of indefinite haze ; then the brown turf in the 

 distance coming into focus ; then the glorious breast of the Peacock, and the very hazel 

 of its eye, as distinct as though it were within reach of my arm. And finally, on the 

 ground, a tiny vibrating point, of which I could make nothing. My eye followed it to 

 what looked like a little mound of mottled clay, and a Russell's viper suddenly stood 

 out clear, snapping into optical recognition, as one's toy puzzle picture of the six 

 inverted cubes shift and change at a glance, appearing erect or inverted at the whim of 

 the mental shutter. The viper was of the earth, earthy in colour, and only its tail-tip 

 quivering with emotion betrayed it. 



For ten minutes more this strange one-sided encounter continued, the Peacock 

 apparently moved only by curiosity, keeping well beyond the danger line, but making 

 the serpent strike again and again, and then following it when it attempted to escape. 

 Either the snake found its hole or the bird tired, for at last, when some distance away, 

 it left its amusement, went to the edge of the water and drank deep, lifting its head a 

 score of times before it was satisfied. It then called loudly, familiarly, with the same 

 cry, the same mournful intonation that one hears at home from birds which have known 

 no real freedom for generations. It picked here and there among the sedges at the 

 water's edge, now and then finding a bit of food which occupied it for some time and 

 required much pounding and pecking before being swallowed. 



The sun beat down cruelly, and I knew that a few minutes more of exposure to 

 such direct heat without a pith helmet would be bad for any newly-arrived sahib, so I 

 rose to my feet and watched the bird. It seemed almost to sense my impulse, so quickly 

 did it turn, being on the run before I had reached my knees. It traversed the knolls of 

 coarse grass with great bounds, gaining impetus and speed at each step, until with 

 wings beating rapidly, it rose, and with undulating feathers, glistening in the sun, 

 swept swiftly over the acacias and out of sight, the closest approximation in appearance 

 to a monoplane in nature. I looked about ; the bee-eaters and I were alone. 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION 



This bird is well named Indian Peafowl, for India is its real home. Beyond the 

 limits of this country it extends to Assam on the east and to the island of Ceylon on the 

 south. Its distribution within these limits is governed by its peculiar mental character. 

 Like the red junglefowl and rock pigeon, if unmolested, it becomes of its own accord 

 almost domesticated. In some places it is found in dense damp jungle, and again it is 

 at home in semi-arid regions, always, however, near water. This will explain certain 

 features in the distribution of this species. 



