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again in the spring, during which interval the bird is dispirited, and seeks 
retirement. 
Nature, in order to form a masterpiece of magnificence, has poured out 
her treasures with such profusion, and has not only united in the plumage 
of this bird all that delights the eye, in the soft delicate tints of the finest 
flowers, all that dazzles in the sparkling lustre of the most precious gems, 
and all that astonishes in the grand display of the rainbow, but she has 
selected, mingled, shaded, and blended them, in such a wonderful manner, 
that they derive from their mixture and their contrast such brilliancy, and 
such sublime and astonishing effect, that it is beyond the power of the 
pencil to imitate or describe them . 
This bird does not come to its full plumage till the third year ; and 
they are reckoned to live about twenty-jive by some, while the period of 
their existence is stated by others to extend to an hundred years. 
The female lays five or six eggs, the size of those of the turkey ; those, if 
she is left to follow the bent of her own inclination, she deposits in some 
secret place, to prevent their being broken by the male, which he is apt to 
do if he finds them. During the whole time of incubation, which is from 
twenty-seven to thirty days, according to the temperature of the climate, 
or warmth of the season, she anxiously shuns the male, and is particularly 
careful to conceal her tract from him when she returns to her nest. The 
young may be fed with curd, chopped leeks, and barley meal moistened ; 
they are likewise fond of grasshoppers and other insects ; in five or six 
months they will feed on all kinds of grain, like others of the gallinaceous 
tribe. It has been remarked that the flowers of elder are prejudicial to 
them, and that the leaf of the nettle is a certain poison to the young ones. 
They prefer high trees, tops of houses, and the most elevated places to 
roost in. Their cry is a perfect contrast to their beauty, being loud and 
unharmonious. 
