The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-03-30

SIC tUS uUS Vu GU, VI WOIOo w oAo'
effect. Yesterday I received kind
letter from some unknown friend say
ing that our peafowls were annoying
the neighboring gardens and if they
were not put up they would be killed.
I was ruminating about this anony.
nous letter and my opinion is that
this is not the best way to make a
complaint. Our neighbors are all
good and kind to US, and l suppose ii
was the fear of giving offense that
kept the writer's name from Che let,
ter, but / really would have felt bet.
ter il the writer had told me face 70
face about the peafowls. AS it is,
am afraid several neighbors have been
feeling ankind and I don't know who
to apologize to. My wife has told me
several times tina. she feared the pea
fowls were trespassing and that we
had better get rid of them. Well, we
have had four or Eve every year for
twelve years and they never dad any
serious harm to our own garden-not
half as much as some Of our neigh
bors' chickens and dogs have done,
but folks are folks about such things
and nobody likes to have other folks
bipeds orquadrupeds prowling around.
The peafowlis sush a nice, pretty:
aristocratic bird that We thought the
neighbors would like to see them oc-
sasionally, and if they behaved badly
) few. stones and clods and sticks and
vomanly Shoes would drive them
away for good, for they are timid and
easily insulted. As for putting them
up, we can't do it, for we cant catch
them and they roost so high we can't
reach them. A colored Methodist
preacher couldn't. And so when I
got the anonymous letter I engaged a
friend to come and shoot them in the
tree tops, but they had flown away be-
fore he got here. We then baited
them into the workshop and finally
canght them and have sent them to
the country where neighbors are not
so near or. so anonymous.
The peafowl is q historic bird. Solo
mon sent his ships to- Tarshish and
brought back ivory and gold and pea
cocks. And the lord said unto Job:
ssWho gave to the peacock his goodly
wings. It is said to be the most
magnificent Of all birds; its form is
elegant; its movements graceful; its
plumage resplendent with tints Of
green, golden, bronze and blue; its
long, bushy tailis beautiful beyond
description, with its iridescent hues,
velvet centers and brilliant eye spots.
En- their incompatible robe we find all
that glistsus in the rainbow and spar
skles in the mine-the azure tints Of
heaven and the emerald Of the fields.
Now, isn't it q pity to kill bird like
that? And yet the ancient Romans
killed them for their brains and
tongues, and it took 1000 to furnish
enough for great entertainment.
The peafowl is a gallinaceous bird,
but not graminiferous. How's that?
IIt belongs to the polyplectron genera
of the sub-family Of pavonine. Just
think Of it! The bill is moderste,
with the base Of the culmen elevated,
the apical half arched and vaulted;
tarsi long and strong, spurs conical,
anterior toes united at the base and
the tarsi in the females tuberculate.
Mirable dictul Some people don't
know all that. Maybe my anonymous
friend didn't know it, or he would
have had more consideration for the
bird. Their food is grain, seed and
insects, but they are non-scratchibus.
They can't scratch, for their legs are
not built that way. They sing but
one song and that song has but one
short strain Of two notes that sounds
ike "paon," and that word is it's
French name. There is not much
melody in this song, especially when
Oft in the Silly night it tries to play
upon its gramaphone and begins and
finishes with wild Comanchee
screech. Like some children, they
are to be seen and not heard.
But have long wondered why the
male was made so much more beauti
full than the female. This peculiar
Obstruction seems to mark the males
of all gallinaceous birds and makes
them arrogant and vain. ''As vain as
!. peacock" is one Of the oldest pro-
verbs. When one is in full array he
will sit upon the balustrade for an
hour and survey himself in the half
rejecting window glass. What he