Part 36

Williamson tells us that these splendid creatures abound chiefly in well-wooded localities, where there is an extent of long grass for them to range in. They are very thirsty birds, and will only remain where they can have free access to water. "About the passes in the Jungleterry districts," continues the same authority, "I have seen such quantities of Pea Fowls as have absolutely surprised me. Whole woods were covered with their beautiful plumage, to which a rising sun imparted additional brilliancy. The small patches of plain among the long grass, most of them cultivated, and with mustard then in bloom, which induced the birds to feed, added beauty to the scene; and I speak within bounds when I assert that there could not be less than twelve or fifteen hundred Pea Fowls of various sizes within sight of the spot where I stood for more than an hour." When on the wing they fly heavily, generally within an easy shot, but if only winged speedily recover, and if not closely pursued will nine times out of ten disappear. The capture of the Peacock is by no means a safe pursuit, for Williamson tells us that wherever that bird and the spotted deer abound the tiger will generally be a visitor; thus the borders of jungle containing such game are highly dangerous. At the season when the peepul berries and figs are in season their flesh is rather bitter; but when they have fed for a time among corn-fields, the flesh of the young is remarkably sweet and juicy. The nest is formed among thick shrubs or on high garden walls, or even on the roofs of houses. When the young are bred in an elevated situation, they are said to be carried to the ground by the parent on her back. The eggs, from four to six in number, are hatched within thirty days, and within three months of their birth the sex of the young is easily recognisable. When domesticated, the Peahen requires to be kept perfectly undisturbed during the period of incubation, or she will desert her little family.

THE COMMON PEACOCK.

The COMMON PEACOCK (_Pavo cristatus_) is of a magnificent purplish blue on the head, throat, and upper breast, overspread with glowing green and golden lustre; the green feathers on the back are edged and marked with copper-red; the centre of the back is deep blue, the wing white striped with black, and the under side black; the quills and tail are light brown; the long feathers of the latter, which form the graceful train that renders this bird so conspicuous, being decorated with numerous ocellated spots. The crest-feathers, from twenty to twenty-four in number, are bearded at their tips. The eye is dark brown, and the bare ring that surrounds it whitish; the beak and foot are greyish-brown. The length of this species is from three and a half to four feet; the wing measures eighteen and the tail twenty-four inches. The long train-feathers of the upper tail-covers are from four to four feet and a half in length. The female is nut-brown on the head and upper throat; the feathers on the nape are greenish, edged with whitish brown; those of the mantle light brown, marked with delicate lines; and those on the throat, breast, and belly white; the quills are brown, and the tail-feathers brown tipped with white. The hen is from thirty-six to thirty-eight inches long; her wing measures fifteen and tail from twelve to thirteen inches; her crest is much smaller and darker than that of her mate.

The general form of this magnificent bird is exceedingly elegant; and when he elevates and spreads his gorgeous train to the sun, displaying it in every way, as if conscious of the admiration he is exciting, the beholder is constrained to admit that there is no creature upon which Nature has lavished her powers of adornment with a more unsparing hand. The voice of the Peacock is extremely harsh and disagreeable, closely resembling in sound the word _paon_, which is its French name. The introduction of this bird into Europe is ascribed to Alexander the Great, but the exact date at which it was first imported into England is unknown.

This Pea-fowl inhabits the whole of India Proper, and is replaced in Assam and the countries to the east by another species. Jerdon tell us, "It frequents forests and jungly places, more especially delighting in hilly and mountainous districts; and in the more open and level country, wooded ravines and river banks are the never-failing resort of some of them. It comes forth to the open glades and fields to feed in the morning and evening, retiring to the jungles for shelter during the heat of the day, and roosting at night on high trees.

"During the courting season," says Jerdon, "the Peacock raises his tail vertically, and with it of course the lengthened train, spreading it out and strutting to captivate the hen birds; he has also the power of clattering the feathers in a most curious manner. It is a beautiful sight to come suddenly on twenty or thirty Pea fowl, the males displaying their gorgeous trains, and strutting about in all the pomp of pride before the gratified females. The train continues to increase in length for many years, at each successive moult, but it appears to be shed very irregularly." The breeding of the Pea-fowl in India varies, according to the locality, from April to October; the eggs, from four to eight or nine, are laid in a secluded spot.

"In Ceylon," writes Sir Emerson Tennant, "as we emerge from the deep shade and approach the park-like openings on the verge of the low country, numbers of Pea-fowl are to be found, either feeding on the seeds and fallen nuts among the long grass, or sunning themselves on the branches of the surrounding trees. Nothing to be met with in English demesnes can give an adequate idea of the size and magnificence of this matchless bird when seen in its native solitudes. Here he generally selects some projecting branch, from which his plumage may hang free of the foliage; and if there be a dead and leafeless bough, he is certain to choose it for his resting-place, whence he droops his wings and spreads his gorgeous train, or spreads it in the morning sun to drive off the damps and dews of night. In some of the unfrequented portions of the eastern province to which Europeans rarely resort, and where the Pea-fowl are unmolested by the natives, their number is so extraordinary that, regarded as game, it ceases to be sport to destroy them; and their cries at early dawn are so tumultuous and incessant as to banish sleep, and amount to an actual inconvenience."

The flesh is excellent when served up hot, though it is said to be indigestible; when cold it contracts a reddish and disagreeable tinge.

Among old English dishes for high festivals the Peacock at one time held a notable place, and a "Pecock enhakyl" (that is, with the feathers of the tail extended) is mentioned by Fabian as one of the second course dishes at the wedding-feast of Henry VI. In an old manuscript in the Library of the Royal Society is a receipt for the dressing of this noble dish:--"For a feste royal, Pecokkes schol be dight on this manere: Take and flee off the skin, with the fedures, tayle, and the neck and hed thereon. Then take the skynne and all the fedures, and lay hit on a tabel abrode, and straw thereon grounden comyn. Then take the Pecok and roste him, and endore him with rawe yolkes of eggs; and when he is rosted take hym off and let hym cole a whyle, and take and sowe him in his skynne, and gild his combe, and so serve him forthe with the last cours."

The flesh of the Peacock is said to be dry, but such a quality must have been amply compensated by the wholesale provision of sauce; as, according to an old play,[B] among other extravagances enumerated, "The carcasses of three fat wethers were bruised for gravy to make sauce for a single Peacock".

THE BLACK-WINGED PEACOCK.

The BLACK-WINGED PEACOCK (_Pavo nigripennis_), a very similar species, differs from the above principally in the blackish blue or blueish green feathers on the upper wing-covers. The hen has a light grey plumage, spotted with a darker shade.

THE JAPAN PEACOCK.

The JAPAN PEACOCK (_Pavo muticus_, or _Pavo spicifer_) far exceeds its congeners in beauty. In this bird the body is slender and the foot high. The crest is composed of feathers having broader tips than those in the crest of the Common Peacock. The upper throat and the head are emerald-green; the feathers of the lower throat are adorned with blueish green spots, having golden edges; and the emerald-green breast-feathers gleam with gold. The belly is brownish grey, the wing-covers are dark green, the quills brown, marbled with black and grey on the outer web, and the secondary quills black, with a greenish gloss. The long feathers of the upper tail-covers resemble those of the Common Peacock, but are more gorgeous. The eye is greyish brown, the bare region around blueish green, the cheek brownish yellow, the beak black, and the foot grey. The female resembles her mate, but is without the train.

The earliest description of this splendid bird is given by Aldrovandus, in the sixteenth century; this was taken from a drawing sent some years before by the Emperor of Japan to the Pope, who gave it to his nephew, the Marchese Tachinetti, from whom Aldrovandus received it. On the authority of this author it had been described in several scientific works, till at length, no further knowledge being gained concerning the species, its actual existence began to be doubted, and Cuvier, in his "Règne Animal," says, "Le Paon de Japon, ou Spicifère (_P. muticus_, Linn.), n'est rien moins qu'authentique. Le veritable Paon sauvage du Japon differe peu du notre, par les couleurs, et point par l'aigrette."

M. Temminck, however, admitted the species, and described it principally from the account of Le Vaillant, who had seen an example of it in a menagerie at the Cape of Good Hope. At the time of the publication of Temminck's work, a specimen was received in the Paris collection, and two males were procured by Professor Jameson for the Ornithological Museum of Edinburgh.

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The GUINEA FOWLS (_Numidæ_) are recognisable by their strongly-built body, short wings, moderate-sized tail, very long feathers in the upper tail-covers, moderate-sized, short-toed feet, without spurs; strong beak, and head and neck more or less denuded of feathers, and decorated with a crest, plume, wreath, or helmet of feathers, and lappets of skin. The plumage of both sexes is usually dark, enlivened with white. The female is adorned with a dress similar to that of her mate.

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The ROYAL GUINEA FOWLS (_Acryllium_) differ in many particulars from all their congeners. These birds have a slender body, long thin neck, small bare head, decorated with a wreath, extending from the ears over the back of the head, and formed of very short velvety feathers; the feathers on the throat are lancet-shaped; the upper secondaries considerably exceed the primaries in length, and the centre tail-feathers are longer than those at the exterior. The short strong beak is much curved, and has the upper mandible very decidedly hooked at its tip; the tarsi are high, and furnished with a spur-like wart. The members of this group are natives of Africa.

THE VULTURINE ROYAL GUINEA FOWL.

The VULTURINE ROYAL GUINEA FOWL (_Acryllium vulturinum_) has the head and upper part of the throat destitute of feathers, but besprinkled with hairs of a black colour, which are longest on the neck; the nape is thickly clothed with short, velvet-like, brown down, and the lower part of the neck ornamented with long, lanceolate, and flowing feathers, having a broad stripe of white down the centre, to which on each side succeeds a line of dull black, finely dotted with white, and margined with fine blue. The feathers of the inferior part of the back are of a similar form, but broader, with a narrower line of white down the centre, and with the minute white dots disposed in irregular and obliquely transverse lines. The wing-covers, back, rump, tail, under tail-covers, and thighs, are blackish brown, ornamented with numerous round and irregular spots of white surrounded by circles of black, the intermediate spaces being filled with very minute spots of dull white; the primaries are brown, with light shafts and spots of brownish white on the outer web; and the tips of the inner secondaries brownish black, with three imperfect lines of white disposed lengthwise on the outer web, and three rows of irregular spots of white on the inner web; the breast and sides of the abdomen are of a beautiful metallic blue, the centre of the abdomen black, the flanks dull pink, with numerous spots of white surrounded by circles of black; the bill is brownish, and the feet brown.

"Independently of the chaste and delicate markings which adorn the whole of this tribe, the neck of the present species of Guinea Fowl," says Mr. Gould, "is ornamented by a ruff of lanceolate flowing plumes, which new feature, as well as the head being entirely devoid of fleshy appendages, render it conspicuously different from all its congeners. We are not able to furnish any account of its history further than that our figure is taken from an example, in all probability unique, forming a part of the collection of the United Service Museum, to which it was presented by Captain Probyn. It is certainly one of the most noble birds that has been discovered for some years; and we indulge in the hope that the period may not be far distant when we shall become better acquainted with the species, and that living individuals may even become denizens of our menageries and farmyards, where they would doubtless thrive equally well as their congener so familiar to us all."

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The TUFTED GUINEA FOWLS (_Guttera_) are recognisable by the bushy crest upon the head, as also by their very powerful beak, moderately high tarsus, and short strong tail. The neck is without any actual lappet, but has the bare skin arranged in deep folds.

PUCHERAN'S TUFTED GUINEA FOWL.

PUCHERAN'S TUFTED GUINEA FOWL (_Guttera Pucheranii_) is of a beautiful but unusually dark blue on the back and under side, and covered with very small round or oval spots, which merge into stripes on the feathers of the upper wing-covers; the primary quills are of almost unspotted brownish grey, and the exterior secondaries broadly edged with white on the outer web. The crest is pale velvety black, the summit of the head and bare fore parts of the neck are bright red, with the folds of the skin dark greyish violet; the eye is deep brown, the beak greyish yellow with blueish base, and the foot almost black. This species is a native of South-eastern Africa.

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The GUINEA FOWLS (_Numida_) form a group distinguishable by a horn-like crest on the crown of the head, and two fleshy lappets that depend from the lower mandible. Near Fuentes, in St. Jago, the chief of the Cape Verde Islands, Darwin met with these beautiful birds in large flocks. They were extremely wary, and could not be approached, running away like Partridges on a rainy day, with their heads cocked up, and if pursued readily took wing. "The discovery of a nest of wild Guinea Fowl," says that writer, "was an incident that enlivened a peculiarly toilsome part of the journey, the passage through a long but narrow watercourse, now dry, filled with masses of loose slippery stone, almost impassable for a horse. In the midst of a thick tuft of grass, within a wood, beside this rocky path, a Guinea Hen had deposited her brood of twenty eggs."

Ellis, in his "Three Visits to Madagascar," says, "Among the companions of my journey was an officer, attended by a slave carrying in a neatly-made wicker cage a pair of perfectly white Guinea Fowls, as a great rarity, and a present from the chief of a distant province to the prince." In reference to this statement, Hartlaub tells us that he considers the Guinea Fowls of Madagascar to be specifically different from such as are natives of Africa.

THE COMMON GUINEA FOWL.

The COMMON GUINEA FOWL (_Numida meleagris_), the species from which our domestic bird is derived, when in its wild state, has the breast and nape unspotted lilac, and the back and rump grey, enlivened by small white dots, surrounded with a dark line. On the upper wing-covers these spots increase in size, and merge into narrow stripes on the outer webs of the secondary quills; the under side is greyish black, adorned with large round spots; the quills are brownish, streaked with white on the outer, and irregularly dotted and marked on the inner web; the dark grey tail-feathers are beautifully spotted, and those at the exterior partially striped. The broad lappets and comb are red, the eye is dark brown, the region of the cheek and the crest blueish white, the beak reddish horn-grey, the foot dull grey, and the toes flesh-colour. When tamed and reared, this species produces a race of much larger birds; these have the plumage very variously marked, and occasionally are entirely of a whitish or reddish hue.

THE MITRED PINTADO.

The MITRED PINTADO (_Numida mitrata_) has the horn-like excrescence on the head much developed, and the chin-lappets narrow and long. The pale black plumage is spotted with white; the feathers on the nape and throat are striped with greyish white, the secondary quills have the outer web partially streaked with white. The eye is greyish brown; the upper part of the head and base of the beak are bright red, a crescent-shaped patch behind the eye, the hinder part of the neck, and the throat are greenish blue, shaded with dark blue; the fleshy lappets are violet at the base and bright red at the tip; the comb or horn is pale yellow, the beak greyish yellow, and the foot blackish blue. This species is twenty-two inches long, the wing measures ten and the tail seven inches. The Mitred Pintado is found, though not abundantly, in Madagascar and Guinea, but is common in Mozambique and in Abyssinia. We learn from Layard that its habitat extends over the whole of the frontier district, into Ovampolando on the west, and to the Mozambique on the east, and that it is still abundant in some places within the colony, where the mimosa bush affords it sufficient shelter. It feeds on grain and insects, and lays from seven to ten eggs, rather sharply pointed at the small and rounded at the obtuse end. These are of a dark cream-colour, minutely dotted over with pin-points of brown.

The same authority tells us that these Guinea Fowls rear their young much in the same manner as our Pheasants do. If the female is startled she flies off and leaves her little family, who at once disperse in every direction, and hide so cunningly amongst the grass and bushes that they are seldom discovered: they usually remain in their concealment until called together again by the shrill note of the parent bird. In the Fish River Valley they roost upon the willow-branches that project over the large holes of water, out of the reach of wild cats. The _Phasidus niger_ and _Agelastus meleagrides_, two very similar species, are natives of Western Africa.

According to M. du Chaillu, the _Phasidus niger_ was met with by him from fifty to one hundred miles in the interior, reckoning from Cape Lopez, and was unknown to the inhabitants of the Cape. He obtained but a single specimen.

THE TUFT-BEAKED PINTADO.

The TUFT-BEAKED PINTADO (_Numida ptilorhyncha_), a very similar species, has the stiff feathers that encircle the throat of a velvety black, whilst those of the body are dark brownish grey, dotted with white. These markings become more perceptible on the upper wing-covers, and take an oval form on the outer web of the shoulder-feathers; the under side has a blueish grey lustre; the breast, sides, and lower tail-covers are decorated with large round spots. The brownish grey quills are more or less distinctly margined with light grey or whitish edges; the lower secondaries have a light blueish grey border, tinted with two shades of brownish grey, and, like the tail-feathers, are very distinctly spotted. The eye is brown and the cheek light blue, as are the large broad lappets; the throat is flesh-red, the bare crown of the head greyish yellow, and the tuft of bristle-like hairs at the base of the upper mandible, from which these birds derive their name, light yellow; the bill is reddish at its base and grey at its tip; the foot dark greyish brown.

This species is a native of Abyssinia and Nubia, where it frequents valleys bordered with thickets, and renders itself remarkable by its extremely harsh voice. It seldom flies, and then only for a short distance to escape from danger. The flesh is exceedingly savoury.

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The TURKEYS (_Meleagrides_) are large but comparatively slender birds, with long legs and short wings and tail; the moderate-sized head and neck are unfeathered and covered with warts; the short, strong beak, from which depends a fleshy wattle, has the upper mandible curved and vaulted. The high foot is furnished with long toes, the rounded wing has its third quill longer than the rest; and the tail, composed of eighteen broad, upright feathers, is also slightly rounded at its extremity. The thick heavy plumage is unusually glossy. One remarkable characteristic of these birds is the bristle-like structure of some of the breast-feathers, some of which are much longer than those of the rest of the body. The members of this group inhabit the forests, prairies, and open tracts of North America; the males wandering about the country in small parties of from ten to one hundred, and seeking their food apart from the females, who are occupied in feeding their young. Turkeys are found in a wild state from Canada to Panama, and so far from being improved by the care of man, have remarkably degenerated in a state of domesticity. When wild they often weigh from twenty to sixty pounds, and when standing upright, measure at least three feet in height. Formerly these birds were common in Canada and the central parts of the United States, but they have gradually fallen back before the advance of civilisation, although they only seem to yield their country inch by inch to the husbandman.

THE PUTER, OR WILD TURKEY.

The PUTER, or WILD TURKEY (_Meleagris gallopavo_), is of a brownish yellow on the upper parts of the body, which gleam with a beautiful metallic lustre, each feather having a broad resplendent black edge. The hinder portions of the back-feathers and tail-covers are dark reddish brown, striped green and black; the yellowish brown breast is darkest at its sides; the belly and legs are brownish grey, and the feathers on the rump pale black, faintly edged with a darker shade. The quills are blackish brown, the primaries greyish white, and the secondaries brownish, striped with white; the tail-feathers are brown, dotted and marked with black. The bare parts of the head and throat are pale sky-blue, the warts that cover the face bright red, and the lower region of the eye ultramarine-blue. The eye is yellowish blue, the beak whitish grey, and the foot pale violet or bright red. This species is from forty to forty-four inches long, and from fifty-three to sixty broad; the wing measures eighteen and the tail fifteen inches. The plumage of the hen, though somewhat resembling that of the male, is much less beautifully coloured; her length does not exceed thirty-five inches, and her breadth forty-eight inches and a half; the wing measures fifteen and the tail eleven inches.