88 THE COMMON PEA-FOWL.
steep slopes that overhang the large tidal creeks, if well clad
with trees and bushy undergrowth. Going up these rivers in a
boat, Pea-Fowl may often be seen and heard about sunset, as they
come down to the river banks to feed before roosting. Inland
they resort to large temple forests with luxuriant undergrowth,
hill-side jungles, and well-wooded ravines. They arc also found
sparingly in the Sahyddri forest, both on the summit and the
western and eastern slopes.
" In no part of Ratnagiri arc Pea-Fowl kept in a state of
semi-domesticity as in other parts of India, and they are consequently
wild and shy wherever found.
" In the Satara and Poona districts east of the Ghats, Pea-
Fowl are found in large Babul (Acacia arabica) thickets, and in
hill-side jungles, where the latter exist. In many parts of these
districts Pea-Fowl arc both plentiful and comparatively tame.
In some native states, such as Sangli and Miraj in the Southern
Mahratta Country, Pea-Fowl are jealously preserved.
" I n the jungles and forests Pea-Fowl eat various fruits and
berries, such as the Wild Fig (Covillia glomerata) and the
Korinda, (Carissa carandas). In the neighbourhood of cultivated
ground the crop they particularly affect is maize."
Mr. Sanderson, so well known by his charming work on
Elephant-catching and sport in Mysore, writes to me:—"Pea-Fowl
are common throughout Mysore in the lighter belt of jungle
that intervenes between heavy forests and cultivation, and in
detached low ranges of scrub-covered hills in the open country.
They are encouraged in places by the owners of cocoanut and
other gardens, as it is a common native belief that they are
enemies to snakes. They feed in the grain fields bordering on
jungles, and do considerable damage when the grain is nearly
ripe, and they move considerable distances at different seasons,
tempted by ripening crops or jungle fruits.
" Pea-Fowl usually commence their discordant cries at half
past two in the morning, and not unfrequently cry at intervals
throughout moonlight nights. They raise a shrill clamour
during the day on seeing tigers or other beasts of prey, or at
unusual sounds, such as the firing of a gun in the jungles.
" Pea-Fowl run very fast, but the old cocks, burthened with
tails six feet in length, are poor flyers, and I have frequently
seen my men run them down during the hot hours of the day
by forcing them to take two or three long flights in succession,
in places where they could be driven from one detached patch
of jungle to another.
" The old cocks are in full plumage from June to December,
and then cast their trains.
" Pea-Fowl are, perhaps, the most wary of all jungle creatures.
In beating for large game, where the sportsmen are posted
ahead in trees, their presence may pass undetected by other
animals, but rarely by Pea-Fowl.
THE COMMON PEA-FOWL. 89
" I have shot them on bright moonlight nights by beating
the trees situated near cultivated lands where they are known
to roost, and, on the 1st September 1872, I made a day after
Pea-Fowl in lieu of Partridges, in some islands near Mandigiri,
in the Hamavati river in Mysore, and by posting markers along
both banks of the river, to prevent the birds taking to the main
land, I bagged twelve cocks in full plumage after a day's hard
work. The Natives have no feeling against their being shot in
Mysore.
" I once shot a hen of a uniform dirty yellow colour, and
saw another like her in the same locality.
" The native trappers imitate the various cries of these birds,
without any artificial aids to the voice, very cleverly, and
decoy them into snares laid for them. When caught, the bird's
eyes are immediately closed by t h e stem of a feather being passed
through both eyelids, so as to sew them together ; they are
then placed on a perch, and d o not move though carried from
place to place."
Albino, or at any rate white varieties, or nearly white ones,
occasionally, as noticed by Mr. Sanderson, occur wild. They
have quite a permanent breed at home of this white bird, and
most of the white specimens that wc see in menageries of Rajas
here have been brought out from Europe by Jamrach and others ;
but I have known one or two of these shot in quite wild out-ofthe
way places. Thus Dr. King showed me at Dehra a skin of a
white specimen, a female, that had been shot in the wilds of
the Eastern Dun, which precisely resembled the bird that
Mr. Elliot figures as the female of another variety, commonly
known as the Japanned Peacock, Pavo nigripermis, of Sclater.
This latter variety has never yet been met with except in captivity,
and it would be well for sportsmen to examine the specimens
they shoot, and see if they ever do meet with it in a wild state.
I n nigripennis the whole of the scapulars and wing-coverts
(which in the common Peacock are cream-coloured with transverse
blackish markings) are black, with narrow green edgings,
which towards t h e carpal joint become bluish ; the metallic green
of the back is of a more golden tint, and the thighs are black
instead of being pale drab as in cristatus.
Some people maintain that this is a distinct species of which
t h e habitat is as yet unknown ; others consider it merely a variety
that has arisen in captivity in Europe. It would be extremely
interesting should it prove to occur wild, and any one shooting
such a bird should preserve the skin, however roughly.
T H E PEA-FOWL, according to my experience, lives pretty much
all the year round and breeds in the same neighbourhood.
Colonel Tickell talks of multitudes of them migrating 100 to
150 miles yearly from the plains to the Tarai, but I have had
no experience of this.