Peacocks] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



395 



It is a bird of recluse habits, frequenting wooded 

 hills remote from human abodes. It has never been 

 brought alive to Europe, and is said to pine in cap- 

 tivity. Its voice is reported to be rather plaintive. 

 In size this magnificent bird is little inferior to a 

 peacock. A short hair-like crest rises up on the 

 occiput. The middle tail-feathers on the male often 

 exceed four feet in length. The secondary quill- 

 feathers are remarkable for their elongation and 

 breadth, spreading boldly out at their extremities, 

 and forming, when the wings are opened, a sweeping 

 fan-like plume. Each of these feathers is beau- 

 tifully ornamented with a row of eyes down the web 

 on the outer side of the shaft, and the rest of this 

 web is filled up with linear and oval marks of a 

 deep brown on a yellowish grey ground. The inner 

 web is white at "its edge, but has the remainder 

 filled up with oval spots, as on the outer web. The 

 primary quills are of a fine yellowish grey, with 

 oval dusky spots and blue shafts. The tail-feathers 

 are of a rich brown, thickly dotted with small spots 

 of white. The upper part of the back and the shoul- 

 ders are pale brown, thickly dotted with round spots 

 of deep brownish black. The lower half of the back 

 and tail-coverts pale buff, thinly spotted with black. 

 The top of the head is ornamented with a crest, of 

 short, black, velvety feathers, and the back of the 

 neck with thin, long, hair-like feathers. The female is 

 much less than the male ; the back and under surface 

 are brown, with zigzag narrow bars ; the lower part 

 of the neck and chest are ferruginous brown, as are 

 also the primaiy quill-feathers. The secondaries 

 are only slightly elongated, exceeding the prima- 

 ries by about two inches ; they are mottled with 

 buff on a dark brown ground. Tail blackish brown. 

 Top of the head and back of the neck furnished 

 with slender hair-like feathers. No long feathers in 

 the tail, which folds like that of a common hen. 



Fig. 1746 gives a faint idea of one of the second- 

 ary quill-feathers of the male, which are three times 

 longer than the primaries. 



1747. — The Crested Peacock-Pheasant 



(Potyplectron Empliammi). Eperonnier a. toupet, 

 Temminck. Temminck established the genus Poty- 

 plectron for the present and a few allied species, 

 remarkable for the splendid ocellations of their 

 plumage. Linnaeus and Cuvier referred the species 

 known to the genus Pavo. Generic characters as 

 follows: — Bill moderate, slender, straight, com- 

 pressed, the base covered with feathers, convex 

 above, where it is rather thick ; orbits and part of 

 the cheeks naked ; nostrils lateral, placed towards 

 the middle of the bill, and half closed by a mem- 

 brane. Tarsi long and slender, with two spurs ; 

 hind-toe not. touching the ground ; tail-feathers long 

 and rounded. 



The crested peacock-pheasant appears to be a 

 native of Sunda and the Molucca Isles. Of its 

 habits we know nothing. The male is about nine- 

 teen inches in length. Forehead and crown orna- 

 mented with a crest of lon«;, narrow, loose feathers, 

 which, together with the plumage of the neck and 

 breast, are rich bluish black with metallic reflex- 

 ions ; above the eyes a large pure white shining 

 stripe, and a patch of the same colour upon the 

 ear-feathers ; back and rump brown, with irregular 

 paler waved bands ; belly and vent deep black ; wing- 

 coverts and secondaries brilliant blue, each feather 

 tipped with velvety black. Tail rather long, much 

 rounded, brown, thickly spotted with ochraceous 

 white, and distinguished by large ocellated oval spots 

 of a brilliant metallic green ; towards the end of 

 each feather there is a blackish bar : this beautiful 

 and ample tail is supposed not to be erectile, but to 

 be capable of very wide expansion. 



1748.— The Thibet Peacock-Pheasant 



(Polt/plectron Thibetanmri). Pavo Thibetanus, 

 Brisson ; Chinguis, Button; Peacock-pheasant, 

 Edwards ; Eperonnier Chinguis, Temminck. 



The native region of this species is supposed to 

 be the mountain region which separates Hindostan 

 from Thibet. Living specimens are often kept in 

 the aviaries of the Chinese, and we have seen an 

 excellent Chinese painting of the bird, evidently 

 copied from the life. Mr. Bennett saw two "pea- 

 cock-pheasants" in Mr. Beale's aviary at Macao, 

 brought, as he states, from Cochin-China. An 

 individual lived for five or six years in an aviary at 

 the Hague, and from that specimen M. Temminck's 

 figure was taken. These birds are said to be very 

 hardy, and, there is but little doubt, might be natu- 

 ralized in this country. The male is about twenty- 

 two inches in length ; there is no crest, but the small 

 greyish brown plumes on the crown of the head are 

 turned forwards, and appear as if ruffled; head, 

 neck, breast, and belly brown, with transverse waved 

 band of blackish brown ; throat whitish ; back, 

 rump, and tail-coverts clear brown, spotted and 

 waved transversely with greyish white; quills 

 brown, marked with greyish; wings, generally, 

 yellowish grey sprinkled with small blackish brown 



bands, each feather having at its extremity a large 

 round, ocellated, brilliant blue spot shot with purple 

 and opaline hues ; a circle of deep black, which is, 

 in its turn, set in a ring of yellowish white, surrounds 

 each of these iridescent spots; tail-feathers dull 

 brown, sprinkled with small ochraceous spots. Upon 

 each of the twenty-two true tail-feathers, at about 

 an inch and a half from the tip, as well as on those 

 of what has been called the upper range, at about 

 an inch from the tip, two oval spots with purple 

 and blue reflexions with double circles of black 

 and white, like those of the wing, but hardly so 

 brilliant, are separated by the shaft only. 



The female differs from the male in having the 

 ocellated spots less brilliant, a shorter tail, and no 

 spurs. 



Besides the present species, the P. chalcurum 

 may be noticed r it is of a more sombre hue than 

 the two preceding. Mr. Gray describes two other 

 species, P. Hardwickii and P. lineatum, from Gene- 

 ral Hardwicke's drawings. 



1718, a.— The Peacock 



{Pavo cristatus). Tads or TatW of the Greeks ; Pavo 

 of the Latins; Paon, French; Pavon and Pavone, 

 Italian ; Pfau, German. 



This gorgeous bird, which is too well known in 

 its domesticated state to need description, is a native 

 of India. It is common in many districts, and 

 abounds in the jungles along the banks of the 

 Ganges, in the forests of the Jungleterry and Bau- 

 ghulpore districts, and in the dense woods of the 

 Ghauts. When taken young, it is easily domesti- 

 cated, and many Hindoo temples in the Dukhun 

 have considerable flocks attached to them. The 

 pea- ."owl was known to the ancients. We find it 

 noticed in the Scriptures as being one of the im- 

 portations from India in the time of Solomon, and 

 a forcible allusion to the splendour of its plumes is 

 made in the Book of Job. 



It is generally believed that Alexander the Great 

 obtained this bird during his Indian expedition, and 

 introduced it into Greece, whence it has spread 

 through the greater portion of Europe. But there 

 is good reason to believe that it was well known in 

 Greece at an earlier period ; and a talented writer 

 has well observed that it is mentioned in two plays 

 of Aristophanes (third year of 88th Olympiad and 

 second year of 91st, respectively ; wherea's Alexander 

 was not born till the second year of the 98th 

 Olympiad) ; and observes it was not improbably in- 

 troduced before the time of Pericles. 



To the Romans it was very familiar ; and indeed 

 must have been common in Italy at an early period. 

 Admired as the peacock was, its beauty did not 

 protect it from slaughter, for it was killed to add to 

 the delicacies of the tables of the great and luxu- 

 rious ; and its brain, together with" the tongues of 

 flamingoes, entered into the composition of a fa- 

 vourite dish of the Emperor Vitellius. 



In our country, a roasted pea-fowl, served up with 

 the plumes attached to it, swelled the rude pomp of 

 a baron's entertainment. 



The pea fowl is restless and wandering in its 

 habits, and cannot well be kept in a small space ; 

 it perches or roosts by preference on the topmost 

 branches of trees, and indeed is fond of any elevated 

 situation. It seeks its food, however, and also con- 

 structs its nest, on the ground. In its wild state it 

 chooses a retired spot," among close brushwood, as 

 the place of incubation, making an inartificial nest 

 of sticks, twigs, and leaves : the eggs are from 

 twelve to fifteen in number. In domesticaiion its 

 habits are the same ; indeed domestication has ef- 

 fected but little alteration in these points ; nor has 

 it degenerated into numerous varieties. White pea- 

 cocks, it is true, are sometimes to be seen, and im- 

 perfectly coloured birds are not uncommon, but 

 here the changes terminate. 



The beautiful plumes of this bird are usually 

 called its tail, and by many are supposed to be so ; 

 this, however, is not* the case : the plumes of the 

 peacock, which are not developed till the third 

 year, are its tail-coverts ; they overhang and con- 

 ceal the true tail-feathers, which are short, but 

 which may be easily seen when the plumes are 

 elevated. 



The Javanese peacock (Pavo Javanicus, Hors- 

 field; Pavo Japonensis, Aldrovand; Japan Pea- 

 cock, Latham ; Pavo spiciferus, Vieillot ; Pavo Al- 

 drovandi, Wilson) is a distinct species. It is a 

 native of Java, Sumatra, Malacca, and, as it is said, 

 of Japan. 



1749, 1750.— The Turkey 

 {Melearjris Gallopavo). Coq dTnde and Dindon 

 (Dinde, fern.), French \ Gallo dTndia, Gallinaecio 

 (Gallina dTndia, fern.) of the Italians ; Indianische 

 Hahn of the Germans. 



Our pictorial specimens are those of wild indi- 

 viduals ; the domestic bird figures in the Group of 

 Poultry (Fig. 1718, 5). 



This noble bird, ofte of the ornaments of our 



poultry-yard, is a native of America, whence it 

 appears to have been imported into Europe in the 

 early part of the sixteenth century. But it must be 

 confessed that nothing very tangible or definite 

 respecting its introduction has been recorded. So 

 involved in obscurity is the early history of the 

 turkey, and so ignorant do the writers of the six- ' 

 teenth and seventeenth centuries appear to have 

 been about it, that they have regarded it as a bird 

 known to the ancients under the title of" Meleasrris," 

 namely, the guinea-fowl, or Pintado, a mistake 

 which was not cleared up till about the middle of the 

 eighteenth century; but. the name, originally ap- 

 plied in error, has been since continued rather for 

 the sake of convenience than because of its propriety. 

 The appellation of " Turkey," which the bird bears 

 in our country, arose, according to Willughby. from 

 a supposition that it came originally from the country 

 so called, and Mr. Bennett observes that such an 

 erroneous opinion may possibly have arisen from 

 that confusion which appears to have at first existed 

 between these birds and guinea-fowls, the latter being 

 commonly obtained from the Levant, and being also 

 in the sixteenth century exceedingly rare in England. 

 Oviedo, in his 'Natural History of the Indies,' the 

 title then given to the newly discovered regions of 

 America, speaks of it as akind of peacock abounding 

 in New Spain, which had already (1526) been trans- 

 ported in a domestic state to the islands and the 

 Spanish Main, where it was kept by the Christian 

 colonists. Mexico was first discovered by Grijalva 

 in 1518. In the fifteenth year of Henry VIII., 1524, 

 turkeys are reported to have been introduced into 

 England, and in 1541 we find these birds among the 

 dainties of the table. Archbishop Cranmer (Leland's 

 ' Collectanea') ordered that of cranes, swans, and tur- 

 key-cocks there should be at festivals only one dish. 

 In 1573, Tusser,in his ' Five Hundred Points of Good 

 Husbandry," notices these birds as among the farmer's 

 fare at Christmas. At the present day the domestic 

 turkey is spread over the greater portion of Europe, 

 and is too well known to need description. 



The habits of the wild turkey are admirably de- 

 tailed by Audubon and the Prince of Canino, whose 

 accounts we shall follow. The native country oi 

 this species extends from the north-western territory 

 of the United States to the Isthmus of Panama, 

 south of which it is not to be found. It was formerly 

 common in many parts of Canada, as well as in dis- 

 tricts within the States, whence it has been driven by 

 the advance of colonization, and must now be sought 

 for in remoter localities. The unsettled parts of {"he 

 states of Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, and Indiana, an 

 immense country to the north-west of these districts, 

 and the vast regions drained by these rivers, from 

 their confluence to Louisiana, including the wooded 

 parts of Arkansas, according to Audubon, are the 

 most abundantly supplied with this magnificent bird. 

 The wild turkey is to a certain degree migratory in 

 its habits, and associates in flocks during the autumn 

 and winter months. About the beginning of October, 

 when the fruits and seeds are about to ia.ll from the' 

 trees, these birds collect together and gradually 

 move towards the rich bottom-lands of the Ohio and 

 Mississippi. The males, or " gobblers," associate in 

 parties varying from ten to a hundred, and search 

 for food apart from the females ; the latter, with 

 their young broods, usually join each other, forming 

 parties of seventy or eighty, and assiduously avoid 

 the old males, which evince a disposition to attack 

 and destroy the young till they are fully grown. 

 The flocks of the district all move in the same 

 direction, seldom taking wing unless to escape the 

 hunter's dog, or cross a river, which latter feat is not 

 performed till after some delay, during which they 

 ascend the highest eminences, and strut about and 

 gobble as if to raise their courage to a pitch befitting 

 the emergency. Even the females and young assume 

 at this juncture a pompous demeanour, spread out 

 their tails, and " pur " loudly. When the weather 

 is settled, and they themselves prepared, they take 

 to flight for the opposite shore ;. the old and robust 

 easily cross a river of the breadth of a mile, but the 

 young and meagre birds often find their strength 

 fail, and fall into the water, not, however, to be 

 drowned, as might be imagined. They bring their 

 wings close to the body, spread out their tail, stretch 

 forward their neck, strike out vigorously with their 

 legs, and rapidly make way to the shore. It is 

 remarkable that after landing on the opposite banks 

 of a large stream, the flocks ramble about for some 

 time as if bewildered, and many fall a prey to 

 ferocious beasts or the hunter. When they have 

 arrived in their land of abundance, they disperse in 

 small flocks, composed of individuals of both sexes 

 and all ages intermingled ; this occurs about the 

 middle of November. The mast, or fruit of the 

 beech, has now fallen in abundance ; but besides 

 this, maize, the peccan-nut, and the acorn are also 

 relished, and they devour beetles, grasshoppers, 

 tadpoles, young frogs, and small lizards. At this 

 season they often venture near farm-yards and barns, 

 and numbers are killed for sale. 



3E2 



