The genus Pavo contains the peacocks, of which there are two distinct species, and one which is very doubtfully distinct. The common species, xP. cristatus, is known to everyone, and this gorgeous bird, so little appreciated because it is so familiar, is very plentiful in the forests and jungles, as well as in open places in India and Ceylon. It delights in hilly and mountainous districts, and it appears to be a curious fact that whenever peafowl are met with in the jungle, it is a pretty sure sign that tigers are in the vicinity. Whether the tigers rely upon the bird's ability to detect the approach of enemies, for they are very wary and always on the lookout, or whether the agile cat watches them in order to secure one or more for a meal, is unknown, but probably both of these suppositions influence the beast to seek the bird's resorts. The peafowl go in flocks, sometimes in very large numbers, and it is a beautiful sight when they take wing, their long trains glistening in the sun. The hens lay from April to October according to the locality, and the eggs, eight or ten in number, of a dull brownish white color, are placed on the bare ground in the most secluded part of the jungle. The young males retain plumage like that of the hen for a year or eighteen months, and the train, which is composed of the upper tail-coverts, not the tailfeathers, is not perfected until the third year. Peafowl are omnivorous, and they eat insects, worms, reptiles, flesh, fish, grain, etc. The Javan peafowl (P. muticus) is, as its trivial name implies, a native of Java, but is not restricted to that island, being found also in the Bm'mese and Malay countries, Ceylon, and possibly Sumatra. It is a handsomer bird than the common peacock, having the crest, head, and neck rich green, and the breast bluish-green margined with gold. Its back is bright coppercolor barred with green and light brown, and the upper tail-coverts are a rich green with gold and copper-color reflections. The train is similar to that of P. cristatus, but more bronzy in color. The two species resemble each other in their habits. A third supposed species, P. nigriloennis, in appearance like P. cristatus, with black shoulders to the wings, is probably but a melanitic variety of the common bird.
