"Beautiful and exotic, the peacock inspires devotion among both artists and bird-lovers. Its iridescent plumage, when fully displayed, is stunning to behold, and also has an evolutionary significance: the peahen is attracted to the male with the largest eye-spots in its feathers, and their joint offspring grow faster and have a better rate of survival. The peahen is not the only one to be charmed. The excessive use of peacock feathers in the millinery contributed to the establishment of the USA's National Audubon Society in 1886 and in Britain the Society for the Protection of Birds in 1891. The feathers have also been used for fletching arrows, on heraldic devices, and as fishing flies for anglers. Peacock motifs have appeared in mosaics, frescoes and illuminated manuscripts, and were widely employed by the craftsmen of the Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau movements. In Peacock, Christine E. Jackson provides a comprehensive survey of the influence of the peacock in the visual arts of many cultures, and its role in religion and mythology. She also explores its natural history, and reveals how this sedentary bird, native to India and Sri Lanka and reluctant to fly great distances, has come to live in semi-domesticated conditions in so many Western countries." -- BOOK JACKET.