372 THE PEACOCK. 
credibly informed, both by natives and settlers living near their haunts, that 
it is not an unusual event to obtain nearly a bushel of eggs at one time 
from a single: heap; and as they are delicious eating they are eagerly 
sought after.” ives 
Ri hen the Brush Turkey is disturbed, it either runs through the tangled 
underwood with singular rapidity, or springs upon a low branch of some tree, 
and reaches the summit by a succession of leaps from branch to branch. 
This latter peculiarity renders it an easy prey to the sportsman, : 
THE large family of 
the PEACOCKS, or Pa- 
vonidz, now claims 
our attention. 
The PEACOCK may 
safely be termed one of 
the most magnificent of 
the feathered tribe, and 
may even lay a well- 
founded claim to the 
chief rank among birds 
in splendour of plum- 
age and effulgence of 
colouring. Weare so 
familiar with the Pea- 
cock that we think little 
of its real splendour ; 
but if one of these birds 
had been brought to 
Europe for the first 
time, it would create a 
pee i SS p 
Cty mS greater sensation than 
Jian f 
ie even the hippopotamus 
BRUSH TURKEY. —(Zalegallus Lathami.) or the gorilla. 
The Peacock is an 
Asiatic bird, the ordinary species being found chiefly in India, and the 
Javanese Peacock in the country from which it derives its name. In some 
parts of India the Peacock is extremely common, flocking together in bands 
of thirty or forty in number, covering the trees with their sp!endid plumage, 
and filling the air with their horridly dissonant voices. Captain Williamson, 
in his “ Oriental Field Sports,” mentions that he has seen at least twelve 
or fifteen hundred peacocks within sight of the spot where he stood. 
They abound chiefly in close-wooded forests, particularly where there is an 
extent of long grass for them to range in. They are very thirsty birds, and 
will only remain where they can have access to water. Rhur plantations are 
their favourite shelter, being close above so as to keep off the solar rays, and 
open at the bottom sufficiently to admit a free passage for the air. If there 
be trees near such spots, the Peacocks’ may be seen mounting into them 
every evening towards dark to roost ; and in which they generally continue 
till the sun rises, when they descend to feed, and pass the mid-day in the 
heavy coverts. 
Though Pea-fowls invariably roost in trees, yet they make their nest on the 
ground, and ordinarily on a bank raised above the common level, where in 
some sufficient bush they collect leaves, small sticks, &c., and sit very close. 
I have on several occasions seen them in their nests, but as 1 refrained from 
disturbing them, they did not offer to move, though they could not fail to 
know that they were discovered. They usually sit on about a dozen or fifteen 
