The Peacock
And now I come to the most beautiful bird of all, the peacock. When he spreads out his long tail, it looks just like a lady's fan, only far lovelier than any fan made by men. In color the tail is a kind of blue and green, with touches of gold and violet, and with "eyes" dotted all over it in shades of many other colors.
The peacock can also close up his tail like a fan. Then the long feathers of the tail all come together in many folds, and stand out a yard long behind him.
The peacock is found wild in India and in countries near there, but has now been brought into America and Europe. You may even have seen the peacock in the parks and gardens of some cities, where he lives quite peacefully, at least in the summer months. In the winter, of course, he must have a warm place indoors.
The peacock is really the Papa bird, and the Mamma bird is called the peahen. She has not the gorgeous tail and the lovely feathers that he has; so she looks quite plain. You will find that among animals the Papas are often much prettier than the Mammas.
That seems very strange, does it not? Among us, of course, the Mammas are always prettier than the Papas!
But in another book I shall explain why the Papas among animals are often prettier than the Mammas.
The Golden Pheasant
There is another beautiful bird which has been brought to America, and now lives here; it is the golden pheasant. Once upon a time he lived only in China; but a few years ago people brought a number of golden pheasants to America, and put them in the forests of Oregon and Washington. So now there are many thousands of golden pheasants flying about and making their nests there.
There are other kinds of pheasants in England and in some parts of Europe, and these the people shoot and eat. But the golden pheasant is much too beautiful to eat. His feathers are as lovely as the sunset—gold and yellow and orange, with blue and deep crimson; and all these colors are laid out on his feathers in such a beautiful pattern that to look at him you would think you were dreaming, and not looking at a real bird.