THE PEACOCK. 
To describe, in adequate terms, the dazzling 
beauties of this elegant bird, would be a task 
of no small difficulty. Its head is adorned with 
a tuft, consisting of twenty-four feathers, whose 
slender shafts are furnished with webs only at 
the ends, painted with the most exquisite green, 
mixed with gold : the head, throat, neck, and 
breast, are of a deep blue, glossed with green 
and gold ; the greater coverts and bastard 
wings are reddish brown, as are also the quills, 
some of which are variegated with black and 
green ; the under part of the body is black, with 
a greenish hue : but the distinguishing charac- 
ter of this singular bird is its train, which rises 
just above the tail, and, when erected, forms a 
fan of the most resplendent hues : the two mid- 
dle feathers are sometimes four feet and a half 
long, the others gradually diminishing on each 
side : the shafts, white, and furnished, from their 
origin, nearly to the end, with parted filaments 
