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THE POULTRY BOOK. 
and throat white ; breast as the neck ; abdomen white, with the lower parts and 
under tail-coverts brown. 
“ Length 38 to 40 inches; wing 16 ; tail 14. The crest is shorter and duller 
in its tint than in the male. 
“ The Peafowl is too well known to require a more ample description. It 
inhabits the whole of India Proper, being replaced in Assam and the countries to 
the East by another species. It frequents forests, and jungly places, more 
especially delighting in hilly and mountainous districts ; and, in the more open 
and level country, wooded ravines and river banks are its never-failing resort. It 
comes forth to the open glades and fields to feed in the morning and evening, 
retiring to the jungles for shelter during the heat of the day, and roosting at night 
on high trees. It ascends the Neilgherry and other mountain regions in Southern 
India, to 6,000 feet or so of elevation, but it does not ascend the Himalayas, at all 
events in Sikim, beyond 2,000 feet. In many parts of the country it is almost 
domesticated, entering villages and roosting on the huts ; and it is venerated by the 
natives in many districts. Many Hindoo temples have large flocks of them ; 
indeed, shooting it is forbidden in some Hindoo states. The Peafowl breeds, 
according to the locality, from April till October, generally in Southern India 
towards the close of the rains, laying from 4 to 8 or 9 eggs in some sequestered 
spot. The Peacock during the courting season raises his tail vertically, and with 
it of course the lengthened train, spreading it out and strutting about to captivate 
the hen birds ; and he has the power of clattering the feathers in a most curious 
manner. 
“ It is a beautiful sight to come suddenly on twenty or thirty Peafowl, the males 
displaying their gorgeous trains, and strutting about in all the pomp of pride 
before the gratified females. The train of course increases in length for many 
years at each successive moult, but it appears to be shed very irregularly. 
Though it cannot be said to be a favourite game with sportsmen in India, 
few can resist a shot at a fine peacock whirring past when hunting for small 
game : yet pea-chicks are well worth a morning’s shikar for the table, and a 
plump young peahen, if kept for two or three days, is really excellent. An old 
peacock is only fit to make soup of. A bird merely winged will often escape by 
the fleetness of its running. They generally roost on particular trees, and by 
going early or late to this place, they can readily be shot. 
Peafowl are easily caught in snares, common hair-nooses, and are generally 
brought in alive, for sale in numbers, in those districts where they abound. In 
confinement they will destroy snakes and other reptiles, and in their wild state 
feed much on various insects and grubs, also on flower buds and young shoots, as 
well as on grain.” 
The naturalist who published a series of admirable articles on the Game birds 
of India in The Field, under the nom-de-'plume of ‘‘ Ornithognomon,” thus 
graphically described the habits of these birds in their wild state : — 
In the months of December and January the temperature in the forests of 
