PEACOCK (from pea, AS. paira, from Lat. paro, peacock, connected with Gk. ran, taos, Pers., Ar. taieus. taus, peacock + cock, AS. eoc, Bret. kok, Alb. cocos, Skt. kukkuta, cock, onoma topoetic in origin), or PEAFOWL. A kind of pheasant of which only two species are known, natives of the East Indies; birds of a large size, and somewhat remarkable for magnificence of plumage. The hill is of moderate size, somewhat arched toward the tip; the cheeks nearly naked; the head crested; the tarsi rather long, and armed with a single spur;, the wings short; the upper tail-coverts prolonged far beyond the tail and forming a splendid train capable of being erected and spread out into a great disk, the true tail being at the same time erected to sup port it. The common peacock (Paco cristalus) has for crest an aigrette of 24 upright feathers, with slender almost naked shafts and broad tip. The tail consists of IS brown stiff feathers, and is about six inches long. The train derives much of its beauty from the loose barbs of its feathers, while their great number and unequal length contribute to its gorgeousness, the upper feathers being successively shorter, so that when it is erected into a disk the eye-like or moon-like spot at the tip of each feather is displayed. The blue of the neck; the green and black of the back and wings: the brown. green. violet. and gold of the tail; the arrangement of the colors, their metallic splendor, and the play of color in chang ing lights, render the male peacock an object of universal admiration—a sentiment in which the bird himself seems to participate, as he struts about to display himself. When the disk is erected, tbe peacock has the power of rattling the shafts of its feathers against one another in a very peculiar manner, by a strong muscular vibration. The peahen is much smaller than the adult male bird, has no train, and is of dull plu mage, mostly brownish, except that the neck is green. Individuals with white plumage not in frequently occur, in which even the eye-like spots of the tail are but faintly indicated; and pied peacocks have the deep blue of the neck and breast contrasted with pure white. The 'ja panned peacock' (Paco nigripennis) is probably a variety; it has deep blue wing-coverts and the female is grayish white.
The peacock is generally supposed to have been known to the Hebrews in the time of Solomon, but it is not certain that the word commonly translated 'peacocks' in the account of Solomon's importations from Tarshish (II. Chronicles ix. 21) does not signify parrots. It is commonly stated that it first became known to the Greeks on the occasion of Alexander's expedition to India, but Aristophanes mentions it in plays written before Alexander was born. It has taken
a considerable part in the folk-lore and religious history of most peoples familiar with it. It is regarded as sacred by various Indian castes, was made the emblem of certain classic divinities. and its plumes are still thought 'unlucky' by many persons. The peacock became common among the Greeks and Romans; a sumptuous banquet in the latter days of Roman greatness was scarcely complete without it; and wealth and folly went to the excess of providing dishes of peacocks' tongues and peacocks' brains. Throughout the :Middle Ages, also, a peacock was often presented at the tables of the great, on state occasions, the skin with the plumage being placed around the bird after it was cooked.
The peacock is now common in most parts of the world; generally kept. however. except in warm countries, for ornament rather than profit, although both the flesh and the eggs are very good. It readily partakes of all the ordi nary food provided for the poultry yard, and is fond of buds and succulent vegetables. It is hardy enough even in cold climates, except that few eggs are laid and the young are difficult to rear. The adult birds it on trees or on the tops of houses or stacks during the keenest frosty nights, never, if they can avoid it. submit ting to the confinement of a house. A sketch of its history in civilization will he found in Stally brass's English translation (London, 1S91) of Helm's work entitled Cultirated Plants and Do mestic Animals in Their Migrations. Peacocks are found will in almost all parts of India am! Siam. In general habits they resemble other pheasants. They roost at night in trees, for safety, but rind their food and make their nests on the ground. When alarmed on the ground the bird eannot readily take wing. and is some times run down by dogs or by horsemen. The female lays about ten eg?.. dirty br()NV/I in color.
The other species is the Javanese peacock (Piro matieus). a native of some of the south eastern parts of Asia and neighboring islands. It is nearly equal in size to the common pea cock, but of perhaps more brilliant although very similar plumage. The cheeks and around the eyes are yellow; the neck, and other fore parts, greenish with golden reflections. The crest is longer than that of the common peacock, its feathers less equal, and webbed along their whole length. Consult the works of Jordan, Hume, Oates, Legge, Seebohm. Myth, and other writers on East Indian ornithology; Darwin, Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication (2d ed.. London, 1875) ; Gubernatis, Zoological My thology (ib., 1S72) ; De Kay, Bird Gods (New York, 1S98). See l'late of PEACOCKS, ETC.