Feathered Folk 359 



better than the keenest watch-dog. Nothing 

 can stir about the place between dawn and 

 thick darkness without setting them into vig- 

 orous cry. 



But one creature indeed is more wary — 

 the thrice gorgeous peacock. His vigilance 

 is not limited to daylight. Any time in the 

 night, if he hears a noise within a mile of his 

 perch, he sends his unearthly cry ringing far 

 and wide. There is a story in Tennessee 

 of an old-time gentlemanly counterfeiter 

 who kept flocks of peacock sentinels and for 

 twenty years defied detection, though he 

 worked in his own house, set fair to view 

 not so far ofF the big road. Peacocks roost 

 always in the highest trees about. Only the 

 cock has the long gorgeous many-eyed greeny- 

 blue tail. The tail comes out at three years 

 old, and is thus the sign of maturity. Hens 

 have modest and symmetrical tails of rufous- 

 brown feathers matching their coats, though 

 full grown they have metallic blue-green 

 breasts and neck ruffs. A strutting peacock 

 is the sum and pattern of feathered pride, yet 

 if by chance he glances down at his insignifi- 

 cant feet, the cart-wheel tail falls instantly, 

 and its owner slinks out of sight. When 

 the tail feathers are plucked, the despoiled 

 owner of them runs away, and hides for 

 several days. He will indeed sometimes 



