THE PEA FOWL.
This bird is assigned to the genus paro, or peacock—the division, class, or sex, and family, being the same as the preceding. The male of this species is noted for its long, lustrous tail, which it occasionally spreads, glittering with hundreds of jewel-like eye-spots, producing an unrivalled effect of grace and beauty. The form of the bird is also exceedingly elegant, and the general plumage of the body exhibits rich metallic tints; that of the neck, particularly, being of a fine deep blue, tinged with golden green. The female, however, is of a much more sober hue, her whole plumage being usually of a brownish color. The voice of the peacock is by no means suitable to the beauty of its external appearance, consisting of a harsh, disagreeable cry, not unlike the word paon, which is the French name of the bird.
THE PEA FOWL.
Although naturalized as a domestic bird in Europe and America, the pea fowl is a native of India, where it is still found abundantly in a wild state; and the wild specimens are said to be more brilliant than those bred in captivity. The date of its introduction into England is not known; but the first peacocks appear to have been brought into Europe by Alexander the Great, although these birds were among the articles imported into Judea by the fleets of Solomon. They reached Rome toward the end of the republic, and their costliness soon caused them to be regarded as one of the greatest luxuries of the table, though the moderns find them dry and leathery. This, perhaps, as much as the desire of ostentation, may have induced the extravagance of Vitellius and Heliogabulus, who introduced dishes composed only of the brains and tongues of peacocks at their feasts. In Europe, during the middle ages, the peacock was still a favorite article in the bill of fare of grand entertainments, at which it was served with the greatest pomp and magnificence. And during the period of chivalry, it was usual for knights to make vows of enterprise on these occasions, “before the peacock and the ladies.” At present, however, the bird is kept entirely on account of the beauty of its appearance.
In a state of nature, pea fowl frequent jungles and wooded localities, feeding upon grain, fruits, and insects. They are polygamous, and the females make their nests upon the ground among bushes; the nest is composed of grass, and the number of eggs laid is said to be five or six. They roost in high trees, and, even in captivity, their inclination to get into an elevated position frequently manifests itself; and they may often be seen perched upon high walls, or upon the ridges of buildings.
The latter characteristic is, indirectly, one reason why many are disinclined to keep pea fowl in a domestic state. Their decided determination so to roost prevents such a control being exercised over them as would restrain them from mischief, until an eye could be kept on their movements; and, consequently, they commit many depredations upon gardens, stealing off to their work of plunder at the first dawn, or at the most unexpected moments. Their cunning indeed is such that, if frequently driven away from the garden at any particular hour of the day or evening, they will never be found there, after a certain time, at that special hour, but will invariably make their inroads at day-break. Many have tried, as a last resort, to eject them with every mark of scorn and insult, such as harsh words, the cracking of whips, and the throwing of harmless brooms; but they remain incorrigible marauders, indifferent to this disrespectful usage, and careless of severe rebuke.
A mansion, therefore, where the fruit and vegetable garden is at a distance, is almost the only place where they can be kept without daily vexation. The injury they do to flowers is comparatively trifling; though, like the Guinea-fowl, they are great eaters of buds, cutting them out cleanly from the axillae of leaves. They must likewise have a dusting-hole, which is large and unsightly; but this can be provided for them in some nook out of the way; and by feeding and encouragement, they will soon be taught to dispose themselves into a pleasing spectacle, at whatever point of view may be deemed desirable. No one with a very limited range should attempt to keep them at all, unless confined in an aviary. Where they can be kept at large, they should be collected in considerable numbers, that their dazzling effects may be as impressive as possible.
A wanton destructiveness toward the young of other poultry is also charged upon them. Relative to this, however, statements differ; some contending that such instances of cruelty constitute the exceptions, and not the rule.
The hen does not lay till her third summer; but she then seems to have an instinctive fear of her mate, manifested by the secrecy with which she selects the place for her nest; nor, if the eggs are disturbed, will she go there again. She lays from four or five to seven. If these are taken, she will frequently lay a second time during the summer; and the plan is recommended to those who are anxious to increase their stock. She sits from twenty-seven to twenty-nine days. A common hen will hatch and rear the young; but the same objection lies against her performing that office, except in very fine, long summers, for the pea fowl as for turkeys—that the young require to be brooded longer than the hen is conveniently able to do. A turkey will prove a much better foster-mother in every respect. The peahen should, of course, be permitted to take charge of one set of eggs. Even without such assistance, she will be tolerably successful.
The same wise provision of Nature noticed in the case of the Guinea fowl is evinced in a still greater degree in the little pea chickens. Their native jungle—tall, dense, sometimes impervious, swarming with reptile, quadruped, and even insect, enemies—would be a most dangerous habitation for a little tender thing that could merely run and squall. Accordingly, they escape from the egg with their quill-feathers very highly developed. In three days, they will fly up, and perch upon any thing three feet high; in a fortnight, they will roost on trees, or the tops of sheds; and in a month or six weeks, they will reach the ridge of a barn, if there are any intermediate low stables or other buildings to help them to mount from one to the other.
There are two varieties of the common pea fowl: the pied and the white. The first has irregular patches of white about it, like the pied Guinea fowl, and the remainder of the plumage resembling the original sorts; the white have the ocellated spots on the tail faintly visible in certain lights. These last are tender, and much prized by those who prefer variety to real beauty. They are occasionally produced by birds of the common kind, in cases where no intercourse with other white birds can have taken place. In one instance, in the same brood, whose parents were both of the usual colors, there were two of the common sort, and one white cock, and one white hen.