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Birds. 
V. — Gallinaceous Birds. 
-■^ = . 
THE PEACOCK. (Paw cristatus.) 
Astonished at the unparalleled beauty of this bird, the 
ancients could not help indulging their lively and creative 
fancy, in accounting for the magnificence of his plumage. 
They made him the favourite of imperial Juno, sister 
and wife to Jupiter ; and not less than the hundred eyes 
of Argus were pulled out to ornament his tail ; indeed, 
there is scarcely anything in nature that can vie with 
the transcendent lustre of the Peacock's feathers. The 
changing glory of his neck eclipses the deep azure of 
ultramarine ; and at the least evolution, it assumes the 
green tint of the emerald, and the purple hue of the 
amethyst. His head, which is small and finely shaped, 
has several curious stripes of white and black round the 
eyes, and is surmounted by an elegant plume, or tuft of 
