The alarm-Ned Kelly Series

A peacock which used to sleep on the top of a tin shed. The bird was accustomed to making cries at the approach of any stranger. Historical record

People used peacocks as ‘watch birds’: they could see people two miles off. I was amused by the oddity of peacocks in Australia and their being put to such a use. The pale-faced policeman does not know how close observers may be; remember that policemen had been killed. Sidney Nolan Text © National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 2010