THE POULTRY BOOK. 
287 
r4,v»ray her brood ; and peacocks wliicli may have been friends for months are 
obliged to own the governor'in-chief, who, taldng advantage of his high position, 
chases each unlucky bird that approaches him. I never, however, sa^v two pea- 
cocks fight. 
“ The hen, when leaving her nest during incubation, utters a loud, shrill, 
peculiar scream, which cannot be mistaken. It is well, then, to have in readiness 
a pan of water and a ball of barley-meal. After she has eaten a little she will 
suddenly run back to her eggs. I have bred a great many ; and although mine 
have liberty to range over many acres, they never avail themselves of it, but 
delight to be near home, and to come to the accustomed window early every 
morning to be fed. At evening they again assemble ; and, after their evening 
meal, each goes to his tree, and stays, in all weathers, until it is time to take wing 
and descend in the morning. The peahen must have her nest in a place which 
is secret and safe from the molestation of the cock; she sits twenty-eight days.” 
