AVES. 571 
of this family are restricted to the old world. They are the most beautiful 
of the gallinaceous birds, and have no superiors in the whole feathered 
creation. 
Few of these birds have been domesticated, and they are generally not 
highly prized for other qualities than their beauty of plumage. 
Sub-fam. 1. Pavonine, or Peacocks. Bill moderate, compressed, curved ; 
wings short, rounded; tail long, with the upper tail coverts very much 
lencthened and extending beyond the tail; tarsi long, robust ; feet strong. 
Size various, generally large ; colors generally very beautiful. 
This sub-family is composed of some of the most magnificent of birds. 
The peacocks, of which there are two species, belong here ; both inhabit 
India and its islands, and they present plumage certainly not surpassed by 
that of any other known birds. 
We find the splendor of the common peacock, Pavo cristatus (pl. 96. 
jig. 5), mentioned at a very early period. It attracted the notice of the 
mariners of Solomon, in the time of whom it appears to have been well 
known. It was afterwards discovered by the army of Alexander, by 
whom it was so much admired that he imposed a penalty on its destruc- 
tion. Hence it became known to Greece, Rome, and to Europe gene- 
rally. 
Peacock shooting is a favorite amusement in India, where in some dis- 
tricts they are abundant. “About the passes in the Jungletery district.” 
says Colonel Williamson, “I have seen such numbers of pea fowls as have 
absolutely surprised me. Whole woods were covered with their beautiful 
plumage, to which a rising sun imparted additional brilliancy. The small 
patches of plain among the long grass, most of them cultivated, and with 
mustard then in bloom, which induced the birds to feed, increased the 
beauty of the scene; and I speak within bounds when I assert, that 
there could not have been less than twelve or fifteen hundred pea fowls 
of various sizes, within sight of the spot where I stood for near an 
hour. 
«When they are in numbers scattered in a jungle it is easy to get a shot. 
but I have always found much difficulty when the birds flock together, as 
they frequently do, to the amount of forty or fifty. At such times it is not 
easy to raise them. When on the wing, they fly heavy and strong, gene- 
rally within an easy shot; but if only winged, they speedily recover, and if 
not very closely pursued will nine times out of ten disappear.” 
It is worthy of notice that domestication has not changed the appear- 
ance of the peacock in the slightest degree, though nearly all other birds 
and quadrupeds have been more or less subject to variety from this 
source. 
The other known species is the Java peacock (P. muticus), of which 
little is known, though it is now frequently seen in museums. It has the 
neck brilliant green instead of blue as in the common species, and differs 
in other respects, though presenting a similar general appearance. It is 
not domesticated. 
Another superb bird of this group, scarcely inferior in beauty to the pea- 
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