On the head is a tuft of upright feathers, blackish upon their shafts, and rich golden green, shot with blue, on their expanded tips. The top of the head, the throat, and neck are the most refulgent blue, changing in different lights to gold and green. The wings are darker than the rest of the plumage, the abdomen blackish, and the feathers of the thighs are fawn. [Illustration: THE PEACOCK.] The female is much smaller than her mate, and not nearly so beautiful, the train being almost wanting, and the colour ashy-brown, with the exception of the throat and neck, which are green. It seems that after Solomon's death the breed of Peafowl was not kept up, owing in all probability to the troubles which beset the throne after that magnificent monarch died. [Illustration: feathers] [Illustration: partridge] THE PARTRIDGE. The word _Kore_ and its signification--The Partridge upon the mountains--David's simile--The Desert Partridge and its habits--Hunting the Partridge with sticks--Eggs of the Partridge--Egg-hunting in Palestine--The various species of Partridge. There is a bird mentioned in the Old Testament, which, although its name is only given twice, is a very interesting bird to all students of the Scriptures, both passages giving an insight into the manners and customs of the scarcely changing East. This is the bird called in the Hebrew Kore, a word which has been generally accepted as signifying some kind of Partridge. There is no doubt that, like most other Hebrew names of animated beings, the word is a collective one, signifying a considerable number of species. The first passage occurs in 1 Sam. xxvi. 20. When David was being pursued by Saul, and had been forced to escape from the city and hide himself in the rocky valleys, he compared himself to the Partridge, which frequented exactly the same places: "The king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge upon the mountains." The appositeness of this simile is perfect. The bird to which David alluded was in all probability the Desert Partridge (_Ammoperdix Heyii_), a species which especially haunts rocky and desert places, and even at the present day is exceedingly plentiful about the Cave of Adullam. The males, when they think themselves unobserved, are fond of challenging, or calling to each other in a loud ringing note, a peculiarity that has earned for the bird the Hebrew name of Kore, or "the caller." It is a very active bird, not taking to flight if it can escape by means of its legs, and, when pursued or disturbed, running with great swiftness to some rocky cleft in which it may hide itself, taking care to interpose, as it runs, stones or other obstacles between itself and the object of its alarm. Thus, then, it will be seen how close was the parallel between this bird and David, who was forced, like the Partridge, to seek for refuge in the rocky caves.