290 PEACOCK. Chap. YIII. 



attended to the colour of their goslings, so that they might 

 know which to preserve and select for breeding. 



The Peacock. 



This is another bird which has hardly varied under domesti- 

 cation, except in sometimes being white or piebald. Mr. Water- 

 house carefully compared, as he informs me, skins of the wild 

 Indian and domestic bird, and they were identical in every 

 respect, except that the plumage of the latter was perhaps 

 rather thicker. Whether our birds are descended from those 

 introduced into Europe in the time of Alexander, or have been 

 subsequently imported, is doubtful. They do not breed very 

 freely with us, and are seldom kept in large numbers, — circum- 

 stances which would greatly interfere with the gradual selection 

 and formation of new breeds. 



There is one strange fact with respect to the peacock, namely, 

 the occasional appearance in England of the "japanned" or 

 " black-shouldered " kind. This form has lately been named on 

 the high authority of Mr. Sclater as a distinct species, viz. Pavo 

 nigripennis, which he believes will hereafter be found wild in 

 some country, but not in India, where it is certainly unknown. 

 These japanned birds differ conspicuously from the common 

 peacock in the colour of their secondary wing-feathers, scapulars, 

 wing-coverts, and thighs ; the females are much paler, and the 

 young, as I hear from Mr. Bartlett, likewise differ. They can 

 be propagated perfectly true. Although they do not resemble 

 the hybrids which have been raised between P. cristatus and 

 muticus, nevertheless they are in some respects intermediate in 

 character between these two species; and this fact favours, 

 as Mr. Sclater believes, the view that they form a distinct and 

 natural species. 33 



On the other hand, Sir E. Heron states 34 that this breed sud- 

 denly appeared within his memory in Lord Brownlow's large 

 stock of pied, white, and common peacocks. The same thing 

 occurred in Sir J. Trevelyan's flock composed entirely of the 



33 Mr. Sclater on the black-shouldered 34 'Proc. Zoolog. Soc.,' April 14th, 



peacock of Latham, ' Proc. Zoolog. Soc.,' 1835. 

 April 24th, 1SG0. 



^ 



