532 
The Illustrated Bo oil or Poultry. 
Pea-fowl are, however, tiresome in some respects. The scream of the cock, if near the house, 
is most disagreeable ; and the bird is also most quarrelsome with other poultry as a general rule, 
even eating young chicks occasionally. Some birds are so vicious as to attack children or aged 
persons ; but these are rather the exceptions, and most become very tame as regards mankind, 
coming to the window to be fed, and making a persistent row till their wants are supplied. They 
are also so wild in disposition that it is very difficult to breed them in yards, though cases have been 
known in which the hen has laid and hatched in confinement. As a rule, however, the adult birds 
roost in trees, or, failing them, on the very ridge of some house or barn, to which they fly with the 
greatest ease. The latter is, however, very bad for their feet in frosty or snowy weather, and trees 
are much better. 
Little can be said about their management, for similar reasons ; they must be left in great 
degree to manage themselves. One cock should not be allowed more than four or five hens, and 
they should be regularly fed. The hens lay their eggs in the most secluded place they can find — 
somewhere deep in a copse or shrubbery in general, though some will take to the long grass in an 
open field — and must on no accowit be disturbed. They are so impatient of their privacy being 
invaded, that such an event is nearly always followed by “soft eggs,” or, if sitting at the time, with 
failure ; but if left to themselves, they will almost always bring off regular and good broods. The 
time of incubation is twenty-eight days. When hatched, the chicks should be treated very much 
as young turkeys, but giving them more animal food, such as ants’ eggs or worms. They are not, 
however, so delicate as turkeys, and in fine weather they should be let out always, but only on short 
grass. After a fortnight they need very little care indeed. 
The peahen goes with her chicks about six months, or even till next spring, and is a very fond 
mother. The young appear to need this extended protection, and hence it is almost useless to 
attempt to hatch the eggs under common hens, which discard their broods at two months, unless 
“ artificial mothers” are provided to nourish them afterwards. Till they moult, at eighteen months 
old, the cocks remain the same colour as the hens, and do not get their plumes in full beauty till 
their third year. Both sexes moult very fast, and appear to suffer much during the process, 
always seeking the deepest seclusion at such times. It is, however, rapidly over if all goes well, 
though the new train-feathers seem to remain very short for some little time, when they appear to 
take a fresh start, and rapidly assume their former length. 
White and pied varieties of the Common Pea-fowl are frequently seen, but are, in our opinion, 
far inferior in beauty to the natural colours. The white are, however, more delicate than the 
common kind. 
