Peacocks in Ice—
In the strange rain of ice that was the climax of the long frost the strangest effect that has come my way is told me by a dweller in Surrey :
"My four peacocks were encased in crystal armour ; they were picked up off the snow, their breasts coated with ice, the blue shimmering through, festooned with icicles which dripped like a fringe over their legs. The crests were stiff with frozen dew-drops and the tails frozen stiff (about a yard long) so they could do nothing but lie flat on the snow. I thought the tails could be brushed, but impassible, so they were thawed out in a greenhouse. But the sight was quite unforgettable, fantastic and beautiful.. . . These birds live in the open and now seem none the worse for having been in cold storage."
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