PEA AND GUINEA FOWL. 27 



splendid orange and purple-tipped collar is spread out to its full extent, 

 while the scarlet tail coverts are shown in all their beauty. During the 

 whole time, the birds are leaping and dancing round each other, and 

 uttering occasionally their peculiar shrill cry." 



Any fact respecting the age which the golden pheasant or silver 

 pheasant (Phasianus nycthemerus) will attain in captivity seems worthy 

 of notice. I have known a fine male silver pheasant to live twenty-one 

 or twenty-two years. Golden pheasants that I happened to learn the 

 age of, did not exceed hah that period, though which species can really 

 be termed the longer lived, I am unable to state. Such of the latter as 

 came under my knowledge died almost instantaneously, and when in 

 the highest condition as to flesh and plumage. 



I saw at Glenarm Park some years ago, a brood, the one half of which 

 was composed of the full-bred common, and the other half of the full- 

 bred silver pheasant. The eggs of the two species were placed under 

 and incubated by a "barn-door" hen, under whose maternity they had 

 thriven very well. The young of both species escaped from the eggs 

 on the same day. 



The native country both of the golden and silver pheasant is China. 



The Pea-fowl {Taw cristatvs) is a native of India, where it still 

 exists in a wild state. A pair of these birds kept by us for some time 

 paid due respect to the hall door by eating there only of bread or 

 biscuit (moistened), though at the back door they partook freely of 

 potatoes. Mr. Poole observes : — " A peacock which belonged to the 

 neighbour of an acquaintance of mine (on whose house the bird roosted) 

 had both his eyes picked out in one of his quarrels. Although total 

 blindness was the result, it did not cause the bird to forsake his perch 

 on the top of the house : he still succeeded in getting up to the ridge. 

 The reasoning power displayed in his manoeuvres is worthy of notice. 

 In order to be sure of reaching the eave in his flight from the ground, 

 he regularly measured his distance from the foot of the. wall by care- 

 fully stepping it, when he knew that by flying up at his accustomed 

 augle he could reach the eave without any danger of striking against 

 the wall." 



The Guinea-fowl or Pintado * (Numida meleagris), was ori- 

 ginally brought from Africa (it inhabited Guinea). The late George 



* The Cape Petrel is also called Pintado bird. 



