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S. Porter—Wanderings in the Far East



WANDERINGS IN THE FAR EAST


By Sydney Porter


Occasionally one sees odd Spicifer Peafowl offered for sale in

Singapore, mainly young ones. Two of these were purchased, but what

derelicts they were, very much under-sized and under-nourished, but

with good food they soon came round. Unfortunately one of them,

only the size of a Bantam when we purchased it, started to grow at

such an alarming rate that it seemed to outgrow its strength and

developed rickets on board the ship coming home. In spite of every care

it died soon after I landed it in England. The other bird, which we

fondly hoped was a male, grew up into a fine bird, and consorted with

a small party of Blue Crossoptilons which were kept loose in the garden.

In spite of the bird developing spurs and displaying, our doubts

regarding its sex were dispelled when it commenced to lay eggs.


This bird had the extraordinary habit of putting its head up

exhaust pipes of cars when they were running, so we had to be careful

and leave no cars running for fear the bird should gas itself.


There is no doubt that the Spicifer Peafowl is one of the most

gorgeous and dignified birds in existence ; it is much finer and more

beautifully coloured than its well-known cousin. There seems to be some

confusion as to what is a true Spicifer. I have seen many very large

examples, some standing nearly four feet high, which have been much

larger than either the Common or the Spicifer, but these must have

been either hybrids or birds of an intermediate species from the district

where the range of the two species meet. These birds have a great deal

of blue in their plumage, whereas the true Spicifer has no blue except

the centre spot of the “ eyes ”. The cock birds I saw in Malaya were

truly regal. I have seen nothing like them in Europe.


The long upstanding crest at the back of the head and the long legs

give the bird a much more dignified appearance than the Common

bird. As well as the much more beautiful plumage these birds have the

great advantage over the others in so much as they do not give vent to

the awful cat-like screams of the Indian bird, which are liable to be

trying to both the family’s and the neighbour’s nerves. But the bird

is far from silent, as its scientific name of muticus would imply.



