Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-03-18
a. GoRGEous PEACocX.
yoInathinx Abaut Him That PorhAps Yon
Do Not Know.


siearly every one is familiar with tho
appearances of the peacock, the king
among all the birds of rich plumage.
His magnificent costume iscomposed of
more than twelve different tipts of the
most brilliant blue, green and gold
His voice is the most unmusical among
birds, but his splendid appearance
makes up for that deficiency.
In ancient times the peacock was the
bird sacred to the Greek Hera, who was
the Juno of the Latins, and later, in the
nge of chiv airy. when more honor was
paid to men than to the gods, a peacock
roasted in its feathers. with its full
train displayed, was the dainty dish"
that was set before the king" on fes-
tive occasions.
The native country of the peacock is
southern Asia and the East Indies. It
is also found in Java and Ceylon. The
naturalists that have seen it in it's ma
tive haunts say that when it is domastl.
Gated its feathers lose much of their
original brilliancy. With it's train, often
seven feet in length, and its arching
neck and body covered with feathers
like gold and emerald stars, it appears
like glistening monarch of the wild
region it inhabits. 1t is often seen in
hOcks of a hundred or more.
Towards evening these creatures
gather on the open grass near the forest
seeking for their supper. Should a
hunter disturb them they run rapidly
for short distance, and then rise
obliquely Their flight is heavy and
somewhat low, as they rarely rise
higher than the tops of the tallest trees.
If wounded while flying they instantly
fall to the ground, but, unless the legs
are injured, they as quickly recover
themselves and run so rapidly towards
the nearest thicket that the hunter
often loses the prize he considers with
IN his grasp.
Their favorite home is in the forest
surrounding mountain table lands,
where they can secrete themselves
among the trees and tall underground,
whence they sally forth into the oper
ground for feeding. They are found
among the mountains of southern India
as high as six thousand feet above the
sea, but never far from some noun tair
stream or lake.
The peacock's food is both ANNA
and vegetable. While he will feast OF
wild berries and seeds and make saC
| AdNOS WAN q AS4A Vi JOOliS uO Il
equally happy with a breakfast O
worms and bugs, and even small snakes
which last he takes vindictive pleasur,
in killing, if only to leave them deat
upon the ground
The female chooses concealed nool
in the underbrush for her nest, wher
she carelessly pulls together, after tn
fashion of domestic barnyard fowls
whatever sticks and dried leaves are a
hand. There she lays from eight t.
twelve eggs, which she broods for thirt,
days before the young break thei
shells.
If she is left to herself she is a goo
mother and attends carefully to he
little ones; but often. when domesti
Gated, constant interruption chills he
maternal instincts, and she heartlessl
goes to roost on the topmost bough O
some tall tree and leaves her babies t
SILVER in the chill midnight air.
Young peacocks are delicate bu
should they live and thrive their growt
is very rapid When three months oil
the difference in the plumage of tn
male and female is distinctly seen, a
though it is not until the third yea
that the male attains to the full glor
of his train. The female, although c
handsome plumage, is entirely wantin
in this gorgeous appendage, the prid
and glory of her mate.-Philadelph
Times