other birds; and so with all the other characters of the peacock. Let
us look to the allied Gallinaceae for any still-existing gradations.
The species and sub-species of Polyplectron inhabit countries adjacent
to the native land of the peacock; and they so far resemble this bird
that they are sometimes called peacock-pheasants. I am also informed by
Mr. Bartlett that they resemble the peacock in their voice and in some
of their habits. During the spring the males, as previously described,
strut about before the comparatively plain-coloured females, expanding
and erecting their tail and wing-feathers, which are ornamented with
numerous ocelli. I request the reader to turn back to the drawing (Fig.
51) of a Polyplectron; In P. napoleonis the ocelli are confined to the
tail, and the back is of a rich metallic blue; in which respects this
species approaches the Java peacock. P. hardwickii possesses a peculiar
top-knot, which is also somewhat like that of the Java peacock. In all
the species the ocelli on the wings and tail are either circular or
oval, and consist of a beautiful, iridescent, greenish-blue or
greenish-purple disc, with a black border. This border in P. chinquis
shades into brown, edged with cream colour, so that the ocellus is here
surrounded with variously shaded, though not bright, concentric zones.
The unusual length of the tail-coverts is another remarkable character
in Polyplectron; for in some of the species they are half, and in
others two-thirds as long as the true tail-feathers. The tail-coverts
are ocellated as in the peacock. Thus the several species of
Polyplectron manifestly make a graduated approach to the peacock in the
length of their tail-coverts, in the zoning of the ocelli, and in some
other characters.
[Fig. 55. Part of a tail-covert of Polyplectron chinquis, with the two
ocelli of natural size.
Fig. 56. Part of a tail-covert of Polyplectron malaccense, with the two
ocelli, partially confluent, of natural size.]
Notwithstanding this approach, the first species of Polyplectron which
I examined almost made me give up the search; for I found not only that
the true tail-feathers, which in the peacock are quite plain, were
ornamented with ocelli, but that the ocelli on all the feathers
differed fundamentally from those of the peacock, in there being two on
the same feather (Fig. 55), one on each side of the shaft. Hence I
concluded that the early progenitors of the peacock could not have
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