e of brown, and the narrow black ring
edged with chestnut, and then the decomposed barbs of the feather,
gilded green, all presenting the effulgence of burnished metal, or
rather the glitter and glow of precious gems, flashing in the varying
light? One can hardly imagine the splendour of the scene described by
Colonel Williamson, as seen by him in the Jungleterry District in India,
when, being engaged shooting these beautiful fowl, he estimates that not
fewer than twelve or fifteen hundred Peafowl of various sizes were
within sight of him for nearly an hour. "Whole woods were covered with
their beautiful plumage, to which the rising sun imparted additional
brilliancy. Small patches of plain among the long grass, most of them
cultivated, and with mustard then in bloom, which induced the birds to
feed, increased the beauty of the scene."

In the preceding volume I have spoken of the gorgeous beauty of the
Birds of Paradise, and have quoted the description given by Lesson of
his rapt feelings when, on first seeing a specimen in the forests of
Papua, he could not shoot from emotion. A chapter on animal beauty
cannot pass over this magnificent family, though to my own taste there
is something in the refulgent radiance of the Humming-birds and
Pheasants which is superior to anything seen in the Paradise-birds. The
latter, or some of them at least, give me the idea of being
over-dressed, particularly that one called the Superb, whose singular
forked gorget and shoulder-cape, gorgeous as these adornments are, with
their lustrous violet and green flushes, are somewhat inelegant in form.
Yet some of them are softly beautiful;--

"So richly deck'd in variegated down,
Green, sable, shining yellow, shading brown,
Tints softly with each other blended,
Hues doubtfully begun and ended;
Or intershooting, and to sight
Lost and recover'd, as the rays of light
Glance in the conscious plumes touch'd here and there.

* * * * *

"This the Sun's Bird, whom Glendoveers might own,
As no unworthy partner in their flight
Through seas of ether, where the ruffling sway
Of nether air's rude billows is unknown:
Whom sylphs, if e'er for casual pastime they
Through India's spicy regions wing their way,
Might bow to as their lord."[212]

[Illustration: PEACOCK-SHOOTING.]

The Emerald Paradise, the best known of the family, seems to