You don't really need sound, but if you turn on sound, you will hear me lavishing praise upon this bird in contrast to how I speak of him here. He got so close to me a few minutes later his tail feathers were vibrating against the arm of my chair lol I love this fool

Jessie Arms Botke (American, 1883-1971), White Peacocks and Datura. Oil with gold leaf on board, 31 ½ x 25 ½ in.

Unusual Peacock Door Handle

Archibald Thorburn (1860-1935) "Peacock and Peacock Butterfly" (1917)

Hedy Lamarr's 'peacock dress', designed by Edith Head, for "Samson and Delilah", 1949. I heard the feathers were gathered from the grounds of Cecil B. DeMille's estate.

Rest in Peace to @kedreeva's peacock Stan Lee 💚

The most resilient little peacock

Helen Hyde, The White Peacock, 1914

Woodblock print

The Great Pavement of Woodchester - The Orpheus - Roman Mosaic Floor

A 20th century reconstruction of the Great Roman Pavement of Woodchester. Especially noteworthy for its opulent design comprising approximately 1.6 million individually fired clay tesserae. Researched and made by Robert and John Woodward in the 1970’s.

The original Roman Great Pavement of Woodchester is believed to have been laid in around 325 A.D. It is by far the most elaborate of the several hundred Roman Mosaic Floor s known in Britain and the largest in Europe, north of the Alps.

The Story of Orpheus The Great Pavement depicts the story of Orpheus, the quasi-divine musician and singer of Greek mythology whose music had the power to move trees and subdue wild creatures. Orpheus is seated in the open side of the central octagon on the North/South axis of the floor. He wears a Phrygian cap, a striped tunic and breeches and a flowing cloak which billows from his shoulders. Immediately outside the octagon is a circle of birds including pheasants, peacocks and doves. Outside the bird zone is a band of laurel leaves encircled by a guilloche. The most dramatic feature of the mosaic is the animal circle. This contains eleven beasts stalking around the floor: a Lion, Lioness, Wild Boar, Horse, Elephant, Tiger, Gryphon, Bear, Leopard, Stag and Tigress, then follows the mask of Neptune with lobster claws sprouting from his head. On either side of him are the beautiful acanthus scrolls said to symbolize the waves of the sea. The circles are enclosed within a square border and four pairs of water nymphs are placed in the spandrels. At each corner of this central square is a stone pillar base. Outside the central square are twenty four geometric panels. Almost all the standard patterns used by the Roman mosaicists are to be found in this floor. The Great Pavement of Woodchester is one of some fifty Roman mosaics depicting Orpheus charming wild creatures. These have been found in all parts of the Roman Empire and range in date from the second century to the fifth.

Le livre de la jungle - Rudyard Kipling; Paul Jouve, ill. - 1919 - via e-rara

The last photos of Stan Lee, the Cameo peacock.

I like to think he had a decent last day. We tube fed him early this morning so he would not feel hungry or thirsty despite that he could no longer find food or water. He spent the rest of the day loafing in the sunlight, surrounded by hens that liked him a great deal because he was always super gentle and sweet to his ladies. He always loved babies, and Aurora's 2023 kids were no exception, and I caught both of them cuddled up to Stan at one point as well. Even though he couldn't see them, I hope he knew he was not alone. I hope that they feel they got to say their goodbyes- I haven't heard anyone calling for him, so that's a good sign.

As the sun began to set, I came out to get him, and he was by himself for the first time, sleeping along the wall in the sun. He didn't fuss when I picked him up, and rode quietly in the car to the vet. He laid quietly in my lap in the waiting room, and I watched a rainbow crawl across his wing and back while we waited. As he fell asleep from the initial sedation, some of the vet staff that had seen him often the last 7 years for his many issues came to say goodbye quietly. They let me stay with him through the Final Sleep, as well, and he went just as quickly and quietly. Perhaps he thought it was time as well.

I am going to miss him like crazy. I never wanted a cameo bird, partly because I know they are prone to carrying health issues and blindness in particular, but he wobbled his way right into my heart once he was in my hands.

I set aside his final train of feathers, along with a good deal of his saddle and some of his neck feathers, as keepsakes. One primary from each wing, some of his actual tail feathers. I will make myself a feather vase from it when I am up to it.

Sark helped me to bury Stan's body beneath the weeping willow sapling we planted last summer. It's near the coops, rather than in the death orchard, as he never particularly liked sleeping near other birds at night, only by day.

It has not been an easy two days, but I know once I have some distance, his memory will certainly be a blessing for me, and for everyone whose lives he touched along the way. His train was always full of hearts from all the love.

The long-awaited special edition of COOP: duck, duck, goose! has arrived, and it's chock-a-block full of all kinds of birds!

You can read it for free on the archives page of our new website! As always there's both a printable version you can print and fold at home, and a digital version you can read from the comfort of your device.

Some contributors you may recognize from Tumblr in this edition are @babeaccuda who contributed a really cute piece of art of a duck enjoying a little snack, as well as @todaysbird whose amazing poem about turkeys is sure to make you think!

Thank you to all our contributors for this extra special zine! And extra special thanks to Larz Alexander Hagen (larzstarz_arts on Instagram) for the lovely piece we used on our cover.

We are always taking submissions to our general editions, so if you have chicken-centric poetry or art you want to see in a future edition of COOP, please consider submitting!

Biblically Accurate Angel

Edit: seeing some condescending pains in the arse reblogging this and acting high and mighty cos they know it’s AI and “can’t believe people are dumb enough to buy this”. Like... no? No one said it was real, hun... Like... it’s a joke about what a peacock would look like to someone who was high and hadn’t seen peacocks before... Hence my post referring to biblically accurate angels? Where did everyone’s senses of humour go? Jesus christ, even this site is impossible to have fun on without someone getting on their high horse.

Peacock Stained Glass Window