PEACOCK. 117 



Le Spicifere, Buf. ii. 266. 



Pheasant one kind of, Kampf. Jap. Engl. Ed. p. 129. 



Japan Peacock, Gen. Syn. iv. 672. 



SIZE of the Crested Peacock. The bill larger, and ash-coloured ; 

 space round the eyes red; irides yellow ; on the top of the head an 

 upright crest, four inches long, by some compared to an ear of corn ; 

 colour green and blue mixed; the top of the head and neck greenish, 

 with spots of blue, which have a white streak down the middle of 

 each ; back greenish blue ; breast blue and green gold mixed ; belly, 

 sides, and thighs, ash-colour, with black spots, streaked with white 

 on the belly; wing coverts and secondaries, not unlike the back ; 

 greater quills green, transversely barred with black lines, but growing 

 yellowish towards the ends, where they are black ; the upper tail 

 coverts are fewer than those of the Common Peacock, yet longer than 

 the tail ; they are chestnut brown, with white shafts, and have at 

 the end of each a large spot, gilded in the middle, then blue, and 

 surrounded with green; legs ash-colour, and not furnished with spurs. 



The female is smaller, the belly quite black, and the upper tail 

 coverts much shorter ; the tail green, edged with blue, and white 

 shafts. 



This inhabits Japan, and is no doubt the bird which Kcempfer 

 calls a Pheasant, " remarkable for the various colours and lustre 

 " of its feathers, and for the beauty of its tail, which equals half a 

 " man's length, and in a curious variety and mixture of the finest 

 " colours, chiefly blue and gold, in no ways inferior to that of a 

 " Peacock." 



This bird is also known in India, as it is well represented in the 

 curious collection of drawings belonging to Sir J. Anstruther. In 

 this the bill is dusky, or pale blue; crown of the head and back, at 

 the nape, and round the chin, deep blue, nearly black ; sides of the 

 head pale blue, and bare, in the middle of which are the eyes ; 

 beneath this, on the ears, a deep crescent of yellow skin, divided into 

 two parts, the rest of the head deep blue; from the back part of the 



