26o THE WORLD OF ANIMAL LIFE 



comes round again they generally fly off to the woods for the 

 nesting season. 



The pheasant is one of the most beautiful wild birds in this 

 country; its feathers are tinted with green, yellow, red, purple, and 

 black. The splendid long tail-feathers are much used for decora- 

 tion. As in most other species, however, the hen-pheasant has not 

 such fine clothes as her husband. 



The nest is made on the ground, usually hidden by some 

 overhanging plants. Dried leaves and feathers are the materials 

 used in its construction, and as the eggs are of a light-brown 

 colour, one might pass very close to them and never see them. 

 From ten to twenty eggs may be found in a pheasant's nest. 



If you pass along a country road in the evening, or in quiet 

 spots any time during the day, you may see the pheasants feeding, 

 generally near a wood. They are very shy birds, and do not go 

 far from their covert. If you clap your hands or shout you will 

 see them all running away to hide in the thicket, or flying away 

 among the trees with a loud whirring noise. But if you keep quiet 

 you may hear the cock-pheasants crowing. Their call is not a 

 proud crow like that of the barn-door cock, but a shrill double 

 cry as if the bird were startled. 



PEA-FOWL 



The Peacock is a familiar inmate of many English farmyards. 

 We may see him strutting to and fro, with his beautiful train 

 spread out to its widest extent. Very proud indeed he is of this 

 train, with its numerous eye-like spots of metallic green, gold, 

 bronze, purple, and blue. And if he thinks that we do not admire 

 it sufficiently, he will rattle his long quills loudly together in order 

 to attract our attention to it. 



This train is often called the " tail " of the peacock. In reality, 

 however, it is not the tail at all, but consists of the feathers which 

 lie above the tail, and are usually termed the tail-coverts. The 

 true tail is quite small, and is nearly always overlooked, for the 

 feathers which compose it are only about seven or eight inches 



