150 
THE PEACOCK. 
ed on a tree situate on a plain, if a dog be loose and 
hunt near it, the bird will rarely move from its situa- 
tion, though it will probably shew extreme uneasi- 
ness. 
“ It will appear curious, but it is very certain,” 
continues the Colonel, “ that peacocks have often 
been hunted and run down by horsemen. The 
wings of a peacock are by no means proportioned to 
the weight of its body and limbs ; besides, they are 
not accustomed to long flights, and are soon out of 
wind. When a bird is discovered in a tree standing 
in a plain, which is frequently the case when game 
is abundant, a person mounted on a tolerably active 
and governable horse, provided with a lash whip, 
may, after keeping as near as possible during the 
first flight, and urging the bird, when it alights, to 
its utmost exertion, so completely fatigue it, as to 
find some opportunity for whipping, and perhaps 
entangle the whip so as to obtain a complete com- 
mand.” The same has been noticed in the account 
of the Wild Turkey ; but wo should consider • the 
opportunities for practising such a chase very un- 
common, and that the instances of escape will per- 
haps exceed those of capture. 
Peacocks are frequently found entirely white. 
This variety occurs, according to Temminck, in a 
wild state as well as in domestication, and is not 
caused, as was alleged by some, from being transport 
ed from a warm to a temperate and even cold cli- 
mate. If, however, we may judge from the analogy 
