Four Peacocks Come Home to Roost

By Herb Katz

The newest additions to the Cathedral close are four fast-growing youngsters with ravenous appetites, atrocious table manners and a seriously limited vocabulary, as well as an extraordinarily colorful future.

Enough hints? Yes, peacocks. And they were officially welcomed by Cathedral Dean the Very Rev. James A. Kowalski at an early October ceremony. The birds were a generous gift from the Cathedral School Class of 2002, and 60 school Kindergartners and eighth graders were on hand with the Dean to greet the new arrivals. Longtime Cathedral friend, Mary Bloom, transported the chicks from a Pennsylvania breeder to her home, where she cared for the fledglings before bringing them to the Close.

With the Feast of St. Francis just a few days away, Dean Kowalski reminded the youngsters of God’s abiding love for all creatures. Then the children joined the him in reciting a prayer for each bird, after he sprinkled the new residents with holy water.
The new flock consists of three India Blues and one white peacock. After getting acclimated to the grounds, the new residents will join the one surviving peacock at the Cathedral, an India Blue estimated to be 18 years old. The life expectancy for the species is about 15 years, so life on the Close must be conducive to longevity for peacocks.

During their first months on the Close, the four chicks were kept in a custom-built plywood and wire enclosure — courtesy of the Maintenance Staff — located on the south side of the Cathedral. In October, the birds’ wings were clipped to prevent them from flying away, and they left their pen for expanded territory near their enclosure. The final step will be for the newcomers to join their elder relative and roam the entire Close.

In about four years, the India Blues’ dazzling tail feathers, the signature of the breed, will appear. White peacocks also grow graceful tail plumage, but it remains pure white throughout the bird’s life.

Peacocks are one of the attractions of the Close, so it’s not surprising that each year thousands of visitors, especially youngsters, take great delight in gazing with awe at the elegant birds. After all, various cultures and faiths throughout history have been enthralled by the noble creatures and have associated them with rich and varied mythology and symbolism.

In ancient China, for instance, the peacock was sacred and depicted in art. A peacock feather was a badge of high rank and awarded for special service; it was also an emblem of the Ming Dynasty.

Also in Asia, the bird was the emblem of the Burmese monarchy and believed to have descended from the sun. The Burmese Peacock Dance and the use of the peacock in the Cambodian trot dance relate to droughts caused by the sun. Sacrificing a peacock, like the sacrifice of a stag, is a prayer for rain and for the heavenly gift of fertility.

To the Greeks, peacocks represented the bird-god Phaoen and symbolized the starry firmament. The Romans carved the image of the colorful bird on tombs and funeral lamps.

The peacock surfaces in each of the world’s three great monotheistic religions. In the Old Testament (1 Kings 10:14), a peacock, along with gold, silver, ivory and apes, is one of the riches brought to King Solomon. In Christianity, the bird is a symbol of resurrection, and its “hundred eyes” depict the all-seeing Church. Islam associates the peacock-eye with the Eye of the Heart and with light.

But for most people the world over, peacocks just are, in the often-heard words of many children on the Close, “pretty.”
BACK