Pe AE Be. , Cix, 
lighted with their beauty, that he appointed a punifhment for thofe 
who fhould kill any of them.—lIt is alfo found in Africa. 
In our climate the Peacock does not come to its full plumage till 
the third year. The female lays five or fix greyifh eggs, the fize of 
thofe of a Turkey : the time of fitting is from twenty-feven to thirty. 
days. “The young are fed on barley-meal, chopped leeks, and curd; 
the old ones on wheat, barley, &c. 
It is an Italian proverb, that the Peacock has the appearance of an 
angel, and voice of the devil; for its cry is exceedingly inharmonious. 
In India, it is related, that they are taken by carrying lights to the 
trees where they rooft, and having painted reprefentations of the bird 
prefented to them at the fame time: when they put out the neck to 
look at the figure, the fportfman flips the noofe over their heads and 
fecures them. It is faid alfo, that the inhabitants of the mountains 
on both fides of the Ganges take them with a kind of bird-lime, made 
from oils and the juices of certain trees. 
‘As we believe a figure of that fuperb variety of the common 
Peacock, Le Paon Panaché of Buffon, would be more acceptable to 
the reader than the fort which fo frequently occurs, we have preferred 
it for this work. It isa moft fuperb and elegantly variegated fpeci- 
men: and we only regret that the limits of our plate, and imper- 
fect {tate of that imitative art, colouring, will not permit us to do 
juftice to its incomparable beauty. ‘The original meafures feven feet, 
of which the train forms a confiderable part. ‘This appendage, 
which is ufually miftaken for the tail itfelf, rifes from the back and 
defcends to a vaft length. The tail is not more than one foot and an 
half in length, and confifts of eighteen brownifh-grey feathers. The 
female has a very fhort train, and the {purs are generally wanting. 
PLATE 
