THE JAVANESE PEACOCK. 
153 
of all the descriptions previous to that of Dr Shaw 
in the Naturalist's Miscellany, which, with his figure, 
are also taken from an Indian drawing. The first 
living specimen seen in modern days was one which 
Le Vaillant noticed in a menagerie at the Cape of 
Good Hope, and of which he forwarded a descrip- 
tion to M. Temminck, who describes it, and gives a 
sketch of the head and crest in his Histoire Natu- 
relle des Pigeons et Gallinaces. M. Vieillot next gave 
a figure in his “ Galerie,” from specimens in the 
Paris Museum, under the title of P. speciferas ; and 
Mr Wilson has given two representations from spe- 
cimens in the Edinburgh collection ; while, lastly, a 
beautiful wood-cut appeared in the “ Gardens and 
Menagerie of the Zoological Society.” Not much, 
or rather nothing, is known of its habits ; but there 
is nothing in its form that would indicate any great 
or important variations from those of the common 
bird. It inhabits Java and Sumatra, and also the 
Continent of India, the two specimens in the Zoo- 
logical Gardens having been received from the Bur- 
mese Territory ; and it is probable that its distribu- 
tion over the mainland, and the great Eastern Archi- 
pelago, will be found more extensive as research 
proceeds- 
The most striking distinction in this species is 
the crest, which, instead of being composed of a 
naked shafted feather, with a round and eyed tip, 
as in the common bird, has these plumes of nearly 
an uniform breadth. Another prominent mark is 
