20 GAME BIRDS OF INDIA. 



coverts ; quills brown ; some of the wing-coverts mottled dusky 

 and whitish ; tail deep brown with whitish tips ; chin and throat 

 white ; breast as the neck ; abdomen white, with the lower parts 

 and under tail-coverts brown. 



Length 38 to 40 inches ; wing 16 ; tail 14. The crest is shorter 

 and duller in its tint than in the male. 



The Pea-fowl is too well known to require a more ample des- 

 cription. It inhabits the whole of India Proper, being replaced in 

 Assam and the countries to the East by another species. It 

 frequents forests, and jungly places, more especially delighting 

 in hilly and mountainous districts ; and, in the more open and 

 level country, wooded ravines and river banks are the never 

 failing resort. It comes forth to the open glades and fields to 

 feed in the morning and evening, retiring to the i uncles for 



O O 7 O t) ~ 



shelter during the heat of the day, and roosting at night on 

 high trees. It ascends the Neilgherry and other mountain re- 

 gions in Southern India to 6,000 feet or so of elevation, but it does 

 not ascend the Himalayas, at all events in Sikim, beyond 2,000 

 feet. In many parts of the country it is almost domesticated, 

 entering villages and roosting on the huts, and it is venerated by 

 the natives in many districts. Many Hindoo temples have large 

 flocks of them ; indeed, shooting it is forbidden in some 

 Hindoo States. The Pea-fowl breeds, according to the locality 

 from April till October, generally in Southern India towards the 

 close of the rains, laying from 4 to 8 or 9 eggs in some sequestered 

 spot. The Peacock during the courting season raises his tail 

 vertically, and with it of course the lengthened train, spreading it 

 out and strutting about to captivate the hen birds ; and he has 

 the power of clattering the feathers in a most curious manner. 



It is a beautiful sight to come suddenly on twenty or thirty 

 Pea-fowl, the males displaying their gorgeous trains, and strutting 

 about in all the pomp of pride before the gratified females. The 

 train of course increases in length for many years at each successive 

 moult, but it appears to be shed very irregularly. 



Though it cannot be said to be a favorite game with Sportsmen 

 in India, yet few can resist a shot at a fine Peacock whirring past 



