P lace and
M a n n e r s .
birds the whole of the wing coverts and fcapulars are of a fine
deep blue green, very glofiy ; but the outer edge of the wing and
quills are of the ufual colour.
This bird, now fo common in Europe, is of eaftern origin, and
has been the admiration, of all ages, from that of King Solomon *
to the prefent. Found in a wild ftate in many parts of Africa
and Afia f j but are no where lo large nor fo fine as in India, in
the neighbourhood of the Ganges, from, whence, by degrees, they
have fpread into all parts, increafing in a wild ftate in the warmer
dimes J, but wanting fome care in the colder regions. In ours,
this bird does not come to fullnefs of plumage till the third year.
The female lays five or fix greyifh white eggs ||, the fize of thofe
of a ‘Turkey. Thefe, if let alone, fhe lays in fome fecret place, at
a diftance from the ufual refort, to prevent their being broken by
the male, which he is apt to do, if he find them. The time o f
fitting is from twenty-feven to thirty days. The young may be
fed with curd, chopped leeks, barley-meal, &c. moiftened j and are
fond of grajhoppers, and fome other infefts. In five or fix months
will feed as the old ones, on wheat and barley, with what elfe they
pick up in the circuit of their confinement. They fcem to prefer
the moft elevated places to rooft on of nights j fuch as high
trees, tops of houfes, and the like. Their cry is loud and inharmonious
j a perfedt contraft to their external beauty. They are
caught in M ia by carrying lights to the trees where they rooft;
* Every three years once came the Ihips of Tarßüjh, bringing gold and filVer,
ivory, apes, and Peacock*.— 2 Chron. ix. 21.
•j* Not indigenous to China.—Htß. des or/.
J Found wild at St. Helena; alio at Barbudat and other Wifi India i/lands*
H As far as twenty in hot climates*
and
P E A C O C K . 67 *
and having painted reprefentations of the bird prefented to them
at the fame time; when they put out the neck to look at the
figure, the fportfmao flips a noofe over the head, and fecures his
game *. In moft ages they have been efteemed as a falutary
food. Hortenfius gave the example at Rome, where it was carried
to the higheft luxury, and Ibid dear f : and a young Pea-fowl is
thought a dainty in the prefent times.
The life of this bird is reckoned by fome at about twenty-five
years j by others, one hundred J.
Le Paon panaché, Brif. arts. i. p. 288. — Buf. oif. ii, p. 327. Frifcb.
pi. 119.
Br. Mu/ Lev. Mu/
'T 'H I S is no other than a mixed breed between the Common
and White Peacock-, and in courfe is to be feen in every
variety and proportion of colour between thefe two birds.
• 'Tavernier*! Traveh, iii. p. 57. — The inhabitants of the mountains on
both tides of the Ganges catch them with a birdlime, prepared from the milky
juice of two forts of trees ||, boiled with oils into a confidence, which proves fuf-
ficiently tenacious to entangle them, or the largeft birds. — Phil. Tranf vol.
bud. p. 376.
f They n i l have been in plenty notwithftanding, or the Emperor Vitellius
could not have got fufficient for his large diih, called the Buckler of Minerva,
which hiitory fays was filled with the livers of Scari, tongues of Flamingoes, and
brains of Pheafanss and Peacocks■
t Wflughbj.
d F a n 1 rtligwja & indice.—Linn.
t.
V ar. A.
+- VARIEGATED
P.
D e s c r i p t i o n .
9 Le