86 THE COMMON PEA-FOWL. 



" In the months of December and January the temperature 

 in the forests of Central India, especially in the valleys, is very 

 low, and the cold, from sudden evaporation, intense at sunrise. 

 The Pea-Fowl in the forests may be observed at such times still 

 roosting, long after the sun has risen above the horizon. As 

 the mist rises off the valleys, and gathering into little clouds, 

 goes rolling up the hill-sides till lost in the ethereal blue, the 

 Pea-Fowl descend from their perch on some huge simal or sal 

 tree, and, threading their way in silence through the underwood, 

 emerge into the fields, and make sad havoc with the channa, 

 urad (both vetches), wheat, or rice. When sated, they retire 

 into the neighbouring thin jungle, and there preen themselves, 

 and dry their bedewed plumage in the sun. The cock stands 

 on a mound, or a fallen trunk, and sends forth his well-known 

 cry, "pehau^ — pehau/z," which is soon answered from other 

 parts of the forest. The hens ramble about, or lie down 

 dusting their plumage, and so they pass the early hours while 

 the air is still cool, and hundreds of little birds are flitting and 

 chirruping about the scarlet blossoms of the " palas " or the 

 " simal." As the sun rises, and the dewy sparkle on the foliage 

 dries up, the air becomes hot and still, the feathered songsters 

 vanish into shady nooks, and our friends, the Pea-Fowl, depart 

 silently into the coolest depths of the forest, to some little sandy 

 stream canopied by verdant boughs, or to thick beds of reeds 

 and grass, or dense thorny brakes overshadowed by mossy 

 rocks, where, though the sun blaze over the open country, the 

 green shades are cool, and the silence of repose unbroken, 

 though the shrill cry of the cicada may be heard ringing faintly 

 through the wood. 



" These birds cease to congregate soon after the crops are 

 off the ground. The pairing season is in the early part of the 

 hot weather. The Peacock has then assumed his full train, that 

 is, the longest or last rows of his upper tail-coverts, which he 

 displays of a morning, strutting about before his wives. These 

 strange gestures, which the natives gravely denominate the 

 Peacock's nantch, or dance, are very similar to those of a turkey- 

 cock, and accompanied by an occasional odd shiver of the quills, 

 produced apparently by a convulsive jerk of the abdomen. 

 The same thing occurs in a turkey-cock — a little start and a 

 puff and a short run forward, as if something had exploded 

 unpleasantly close behind him. These are all blandishments, 

 we are told, to allure the female, and doubtless have a most 

 fascinating effect." 



Mr. Reid remarks that : — 



" Taking Oudh as a whole, Pea-Fowl are found abundantly 

 wherever suitable localities occur, and they are specially numer- 

 ous in the Tarai. They abound in the extensive dhak and 

 thorn jungles so characteristic of many parts of the province, 

 and the banks of rivers and nalas passing through these are 



