THE PEACOCK. 
149 
Whole woods were covered with their beautiful plu- 
mage, to which a rising sun imparted additional bril- 
liancy. The small patches of plain among the long 
grass, most of them cidtivated, and with mustard 
then in bloom, which induced the birds to feed, in- 
creased the beauty of the scene ; and I speak with- 
in bounds when I assert, that there could not be 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. They 
run remarkably fast, and I doubt whether a heavy 
spaniel or pointer could raise them. When on the 
wing, they fly heavy and strong, generally within an 
easy shot ; but if only winged, they speedily recover, 
and, if not closely pursued, will nine times in ten 
disappear. These plantations are their favourite 
shelter, being close above, so as to keep off the solar 
rays, and open at the bottom sufficiently to admit a 
free passage for the air. If there be trees near such 
spots, the peacock may be seen mounting into them 
every evening towards dusk to roost, and in which 
they generally continue till the sun rises, when they 
descend to feed, and pass the midday in the heavy 
covers. They are very jealous of all quadrupeds, 
especially of dogs ; and when peacocks are discover- 
