52 THE BIRDS OF CALCUTTA. 



which would attract attention anywhere, and going 

 further afield fresh showy species present themselves 

 too numerous to mention in few words. Posterity 

 would not have thought much of us as a cultured 

 nation if we had allowed such creatures to be hunted 

 to extermination in countries under our rule, when 

 so many centuries ago Alexander the Great — in 

 India on a mere mihtary expedition — ^gave orders 

 that the peafowl should not be molested, through 

 admiration of their beauty alone. 



