peafowl

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Either of two large pheasants, Pavo cristatus of India and Sri Lanka or P. muticus of southeast Asia.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A peacock or peahen; a bird of the genus Pavo, of which there are two if not three species. The common peafowl, P. cristatus, is a native of India, said to have been introduced into Europe by Alexander the Great, and now everywhere domesticated. The male, female, and young are respectively called peacock, peahen, and pea-chick. The peacock is one of the largest of the gallinaceous birds, and in full dress is the most magnificent of nil birds. The gorgeous train which constitutes its chief ornament is often four feet long, and consists of an extraordinary mass of upper tail-coverts, not true tail-feathers, which latter the train overlies and far outreaches. These tail-coverts are elegantly formed of spray-like decomposed webs enlarged and recomposed at the end, and marked with glittering ocelli or “eyes.” This whole mass of plumage is capable of being erected and spread in a vertical disk completing a semicircle, or more, of the most brilliant iridescent colors, chiefly green and gold. The tail-feathers proper and the primaries are chestnut; the neck and breast are blue of a peculiarly rich tint called peacock-blue. The head is crested with a bunch of about twenty-four upright plumes. The length proper is about four feet, the train, when fully developed, measuring from two to four feet more. The peahen is much smaller and more plainly feathered, without the train. The peacock was sacred, among the Greeks and Romans, to Hera or Juno, but is now commonly regarded as the symbol of vainglory and as a bird of ill omen. The flesh is edible, like that of other gallinaceous birds. The cry is extremely loud and harsh. See Pavo, japanned; also cut under ocellate.

Wiktionary

1. n. A pheasant of the genus Pavo or Afropavo, notable for the extravagant tails of the males; a peacock. The cry is "meow" (like cats), "kee-o" or "iyaan".

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The peacock or peahen; any species of Pavo.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. very large terrestrial southeast Asian pheasant often raised as an ornamental bird