. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of their various orders, with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . have eulogiums from man. Completemaster in the art of showing itself, it manages the transitions of lightand shade so as to be presented to the greatest advantage. At theend of August this beautiful plumage falls off, not to come forthagain till the spring. It is said that the Peacock is so ashamed ofhaving lost that which was his pride, that he afterwards shuns thesight of man. This is better explained by the fact that the time ofmoulting is for it, as for a
. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of their various orders, with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . have eulogiums from man. Completemaster in the art of showing itself, it manages the transitions of lightand shade so as to be presented to the greatest advantage. At theend of August this beautiful plumage falls off, not to come forthagain till the spring. It is said that the Peacock is so ashamed ofhaving lost that which was his pride, that he afterwards shuns thesight of man. This is better explained by the fact that the time ofmoulting is for it, as for all other birds, a period of sickness ; conse- THE PEAHEN, 419 quently ft retires into solitude, to find there the calm and tranquillitywhich such a critical state demands. The Wild Peahen lays fromtwenty to thirty eggs in a hole hollowed in the ground ; the domesticbird is less fruitful. To hide the nest from the searching eye of themale, which breaks the eggs whenever opportunity offers, is one ofthe females first duties. Incubation lasts from twenty-seven to thirtydays. The young follow their mother from their birth, and attain. Fig. 159.—Impeyan Pheasants. their full development in three years. The Peahen, like the HenPheasant and the Common Hen, adopts the plumage of the malewhen age has rendered her unfruitful. The Peacock lives fromtwenty-five to thirt)^ years; some authors have wrongly attributedto them the longevity of a century. Peacock Pheasants {Polypledron) owe their name to the supera-bundance of spurs with which they are armed ; for the males alwayspossess two, sometimes three, on each limb. The plumage of thesebirds, like that of Peacocks, is sprinkled with glittering ocellations;but their tails are shorter, and not susceptible of expansion. 42cJ REPTILES AND BIRDS. There are three or four varieties known, which inhabit India, China,and the Isles of Sumatra and Borneo. Their habits have not yetbeen studied. Impeyan Pheasants i^Lopophorus Impeyanus, Fig. 159), a
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