CHINESE PE ACOCK-PHE AS ANTe 
guished, too, by other properties : it's head and 
-neck are thick ; it's tail does not rise, and 
■spread, like the Peacock's ; and, instead of a 
tuft, it has only a sort of flat crest, formed by 
the feathers on the top of the head, which 
i.bristle and stretch towards a point somewhat 
^projecting ; and, lastly, it has a double spur on 
•each leg— a singular character, from which I 
have denominated the bird. 
" These external differences, which un- 
doubtedlv involve many others more concealed, 
Avould seem a sufficient reason to every sensible 
man, who is not prejudiced by systems, for ex- 
cluding it from the Peacocks and Pheasants : 
though, like these, it's toes are parted, it's feet 
naked, it's legs covered with feathers as far as 
the heel, the bill fashioned into a curved cone, 
the tail long, and the head without comb or 
membrane. A person who sticks rigidly to a 
system, could not fail to range it with the Pea- 
cock or the Pheasant ; since it possesses all the 
attributes of that genus : but must the histo- 
rian, exempt from prejudice, and unfettered by 
farms, recognise it as the Peacock of Nature? 
■ In vain it will be urged that, since the 
principal 
