P A V O C R I S T A T U S .
in showing the approach of an enemy. On. one occasion, when passing through th e Maldah jheél in a boat, hejpg hard up for
food, I saw some Peafowl on the shore, and wanted to land to kill one ; but the boatmen were afraid to accompany me, on account
of tig e rs ;'so Ï had to go by myself, when I shot a fine Peacock, and ate nothing else ;for some days, until I was quite tired and
sick of it.” •
“ Commonly called,” says A. L. Adams, in the Proceedings, “ ‘Mo-or’ by the natives of the Punjab and lower Himalayan __ ranges.
Is very generally distributed over these p arts; is held sacred by many castes, and, accordingly p ç J J preserved. At Rullar Kuliar,
among the sait-mountains of the Punjab, there are several shrines where the Peafowl collect from the neighbouring jungles to he
fed by the fakirs and religious devotees ; there, a t cbreak o f day, as the sportsman is clambering oyer the rough sides of the
ravines in quest of Houriar (Oois vignef), he will often be struck with the scene, as hundreds o f male Peafowl, in all their native
elegance and beauty, dash down the glens with a rapidity of flight unknown to the denizens o f the English farm-yard. Many
sportsmen ignore this species, and will not allow it a place in their game-list. It is true that in many localities they might be
killed with little trouble ; but among the dense and tangled jungles of the lower Himalayan ranges it is found wild and wary.
Sir James. Emerson Tennent, K.C.S., in his work ori Ceylon, thus writes of the habits of this species as observed by him in
that island :’^ * ‘As we emerge from the deep shade and approach the park-like openings on the verge of the low ' country,- quantities
of Peafowl (Pano cristatus) ' are to be found, either feèding amongst the seeds and'nuts in the long grass, or sunning themselves on
the branches of the surrounding trees. Nothing to be met with in England can give an idea either of the size m i magnificence
o f this matchless bird when seen in his native solitudes. Here he generally selects some projecting branch from which his-plumage
may hang free of foliage ; and if there be a dead and leafless hough, he iS certain to chose it for his- resting-place, whence he
droops his wings and suspends his gorgeous train, or spreads it in the morning sun to drive off the damps and dews óf the
night. In some of the unfrequented portions o f j.the eastern p ro v in e ^ to which Europeans rarely rèsort, and where the Peafowl
are unmolested by the natives, their number is so extraordinary that, regarded as game, it ceases to be ‘ sp o rt’ to destroy them ;
and their cries at early mornings are so tumultuous and incessant as to banish sleep and amount to an- actual inconvenience. Their
flesh.is excellent when served up h o t; but wheri cold, it contracts a reddish and disagreeable tinge, and is s a $ to be indigestible.”
il l “ The Peacock” (Pavo cristatus), says Ornitbognomon, “ is restricted to India and Ceylon, occupying the whole o f thè peninsula
and continent as far round the head o f the Bay o f Bengal as Chittagong, where it gives place to the other species (Paco muticus).
How far north the common Peacock extends I know n o t; but it is extremely numerous as high as Umballa in the Punjaub.
Although a forest-haunting bird, Kfl swarms during the çold season in the open cultivated country about Koël (Aligurh),
Boohmdshuhur; Bareilly, Mòradabad, Meerut, &c. ; and a t the firsfcnamed place during January I have seen them running- about
like domestic poultry, in the fields of chuuna and bhoot (vetches) and suroon (mustard). When these crops are off the ground,
which is usually'by the middle of February, the Peafowl make the best of their way to the* enormous saul-forests which still exist
along the Terai or southern skirt of the Himalayas. To*do"-tkis they have to traverse about 100 to 150 miles o f open country,
and, being a heavy-flying birdi it is curious how this partial migration is performed—probably by easy stages, and progressively
as the fields get reaped. Although Peafowl are scattered over the forests of Central and South Central In d ia ,‘ they are much
more numerous in the trans-Gangetic provinces, and all along the Terai. In the northerly parts of Tirhoot, on the the Nepauh frontier,
I have seen upwards of fifty or §ixty on the wing a t a time, making for the forest, when roused up by our elephants. So common,
indeed; is this bird in the parts of India above enumerated, and so tame, and so much do the natives dislike their being killed,
that the sportsman seldom molests them. Nevertheless a Peachick is by no means to he despised-on the table, and an old bird,
cock or béri, furnishes grand stock for a tureen o f good soup. Peafowl roost a t night on high trees, highest they can
get in the jungle they inhabit; .but they select the lowest branches for their perch. They are rather late in roosting; I have hèard
them flying up to their berths long after sunset, and when .the night-jars had been for sortie time abroad; flitting over the dusky
jungle. The cock bird invariably leads the way, rising suddenly from the brushwood near the roosting-tree with a loud ‘ kok-kok
kok-kok,’ and being presently followed by his hareem (four or five hens). I f marked to their roosting-places, and if it he a clear
moonlight night, they may be easily shot; for, not knowing where to go, they will frequently-remain on the tree till fired a t two.-
or three times. When forced to quit, they fly towards; the ground, and pass the rest of the night as well as they can, sometimes
falling a prey to Leopards or wild Cats. If there are hills in the jungle, the Peafowl select some prominent tree on the top or
halfway up.”
“ In the Neilgherries and other mountain-regions in Southern India,” says Jerdon, “ this bird ascends to the height o f 6000 feet
above the level of the sea : but in Sikim (Daijeeling) and other parts of the Himalayas, not higher .than 2000 feet.” F or my
part, I have never seen Peafowl at an elevation above the Terai, though I have rambled about the' hills in Sikim at Punkabaree, and
near Beechiakor and Hurruckwaree, on the Nepaul frontier. In the jungle (Mahals and Singhboom) the Peafowl roost,;-X)n small
hills, but descend to the cultivated valleys to feed. On the loftier hills of those regions, such as Dulma, Parusnat, and the
Chootia ranges above the Damoodur, I have never met with them. In the months of'December and January, the temperature in
the forests ■ of Central India, especially in the valleys, is very low, and the cold (from sudden evaporation) intense at sunrise.-'-The
P A V O C R I S T A T U S .
Peafowl rin- the forest may b ® f c r f | i f t - su ck times stilk’rcjosthig, long after ■ son- h i # risen above the horizon. As the mist
1 e off the valleys and gathering into little clouds, goes rolling up the hill-sides, till lost in She ethereal blue, the Peafowl descend
from tie ir perch A ïorne* h i g l ^ ^ f f l o r hanl.tree,“and threading their way in y é n e e through the underwood, emerge into the
MM and make sad havoc witli the chmina. ootid (both vetches), wheat, or rice. When, sated, ■ they retire into the neighbouring
thin jun-l'es and there preen tlicmselve and dry their bedewed plumage in the sun. The cnek stands on a mound or fallen' trunk
and' ¡¡ends -forth Ills -.welUUnown cry; “ .peliamhpcliami," which is soon- answered from other parts' of the forest; the hens ramble
about or lie down -dusting -their plumage ; and so they pass -the early bomb while the air Is- still ■ cool, and hundreds, of little birds
are Hitting and chirruping about the. scarlet blossoms of the “ p olfe" or the “ scmul." As the sun rises and the dewy sparkle on
the folia-e dries up. the air 'becomes hot- and still, -the feathered songsters vanish into shady -nooks, and our friends the Peafowl
depart silently Into tlie coolest depths of the forest, to i o m e j j t* sandy stream,-canopied by Merdantdbofghs,, .or to thick beds of
roods and ..4 s,-o r -dense thorny brakes overshadowed by inossy rocks, where, though' -the sun blase over the open count,* the
preen shades are cool; and the silence o f I S u t l d may he heard ringing famtly through
f c w o o d There are spots in these snnl forests which; for luxurious coolness during-the sultriest weather, -rival th e most elaborately
— M H H M B B— I— — rosé-hdWirs - pfc Isfahan (the paradise- of the .old Persian) ; and the
wilder denizen. of the wood -show no mall' di: cernment In electing them Many a delightfully dreamy hour I have passed m
som e s« » d tii= io u s ^ B h g die l i l crystal at my. ffet, lazily summing th e cndleskvarietytof unknown plants, flowers
f e r n s , i B ; and mosses scattered around, ^ fo llow in g g hm o v en icn ts f f t the tiny feathered jewel emboldened
by the sdence, d i y e d his brilliant plumage. searce: .a yard from my adminng retreate one might cheat e ' f r ’C iseomfort, {W e m « ^ ^ 5 -he relurto malana, and, moreover, where one
f e É L very apt to, nS g l f e prnaey o f l L e misanthropic tiger. -here Peafowl abound tigeis are vmy hkely 0
be met w i th ,» well known to Indian sportsmen, and Is confidently believed by the natives themselves. These birds cease to
r after the crops a r e jjf f ■ ground. W H j Ê Ê Ê
I S W im u m e d b h i s full train (that I sM e longest or I S w s of his upper ■ morm”S’ str“t to «
about before lids wive These strange gestures, which the native grave]* denominate the B B B B D are ■
■ m those of a T u r i p i y - e o c k c ^ t e S I .¿»4 a P-Æ >-"<* -> H H H B | H D
close behind him These are all blandishments, we are told, to allure the female, and doubtless have a most fascmating effec .
The 1 lays in U M l India during j J B U d j j B k fe tS pans. according to d e r f e | « eariy as Aprd and as late as Oetobe I
The ;gs L o n n tin g sometimes to eight or ten, are laid on the bare ground, generally under a - tu c k e t in he
secluded part of the jirngle they are of a dull brownish white., -about - » inches. In .length, and' 2+ ,n breadth. The chicks run M S a tMISÊËÈÎmto down, and jr. about a week begin to „.same their first feathers, which
are of a dull dark browa above, and paler below in lmd. sexes; tlie side of the, head whitish,, with a dark hand through e
’eye. The cock S S f o r months of t h e | | l | ® | | os the ■ and does not assume the long | W H |
II the tlrird 1 se fill off when moulting hi tlie ra ins; m,d the new coverts remain short till about November or December,
' when the last row elougate rapidly. Peafowl, as may be seen amougst those rented with our ponltiy, are omnivorous ; msec s,
worms reptdes flesh, fish, are us readily devoured as groin.
,m ,he egg, J H hÎm S m I they never become thoroughly iSmesfrcateil, but* rather roam further and farther as
( j g iw ; 8 4 generallyTake ! final depurture by the end of a year or so. They are vicious birds, and show their tameness by
■ ■ ■ ■ ¡ ■ ■ M M P J H I “ B B H B B e,pecifrly H B B M W W H B M M I .other.. times into th e ffiie k e s t jungle. I n f e countries (Rajmahal, the
Damunritkhii, Beerbhoom, MidhapoOr, Cliotanagpooçy and ',60 on south to gumbhtdpdor and
■ wild as in Northern India it ■ ■ H H S H f f l 1 H ¡ B E
1Ily earlier ycars In India many a weary hour of profitless labour have I spent m endeavour;:,g to creep within shot of some
s p L d id fellow whose g l o ^ excited my ornithological ■ ■ When followed H B Manner, ^ h o u a dog the P e l^ c k
keeps ■ ■ before ¡ S o l m e u , gliding and sh p p lM h ro u g h apparently unpervious ttackets, p e n s i o n ^ stoppmg m some
pa-ih of grass, whence wit , outstretched neck: he regards his pursuer, and at- length, if hard pressed rising heavily on w,ng
. — I into the densest covert, to v S g ' the baffled b e s t l i l , , , way ont mto the
morning sun may dry Ids clothing, drenched with the chilling dew. Of a n evening one may oblmn a good s h o ^ r two by
.walking through t h e j angle skirting a field of wheat, rice, or vetch, some fifty yards in advance of tw o, b e a f o r t , who me
instructed to keep that d,stance from . y o ^ ( Peafowl thus invaded m t S tang e j ^ ^ ^ for . J 5caroity
^ . ï, m advance of the heaters .sS/ | s t o p v e ^ fte re priMd accordingly; and to see a
^ ^ m f i S f e u I , S“w , r nh . I B r a m , coming' o v S d then tumble him over, head over heels, h ^ - o y e r heels, with a thump