June 11, 1893 — Podmore Zoo; Muggle Side

Josiah had taken to spending quite a lot of time at the zoo. He could not help how it drew his interest time and time again. It seemed like a wonderful job to him. How did one go about it though? It wasn't like there had been a steady access to education for a lot of his circle. Heading into the aviary, it was kind of hard for him to believe that the peacocks and parrots were truly not part of the magical creatures he was aware the zoo called home. Not that he had access to that area since he was a muggle but Jason had told him things.

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James had to admit, that if one had to be relegated to the muggle side of the zoo, the best place to be was the aviary. If he could have his way, he'd have the whole zoo at his disposal, but Gran was his minder today, and while James thought the woman was scary enough to get past anything, this was apparently not a chance Jane McKinley was willing to take. Shame.

Oh well. Birds were birds, magical or not, and James was soon distracted by watching them. He was envious of their ability to fly, which looked like the most exciting thing in existence. He'd already hinted very heavily to his parents that he wanted a broom for his birthday. There had been a great deal of begging. And puppy-dog eyes. Borderline whining. He wasn't sure they'd really gotten the hint yet.

He was watching a small group of birds wander nearby, and was trying to identify them. They sort of looked like the peacocks, he thought. Except without the magnificent tail. And the one nearest him was mostly white, not colorful. James turned to ask his great-grandmother, but Mrs. McKinley was several feet away, reading a plaque very intently, so James settled for the nearest other person instead. "Excuse me," he said. He pointed toward the birds. "Do you know what those birds are?"

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Josiah was brought out of his thoughts by the voice of a young boy. He instinctively looked around for a child-minder. A woman was nearby, reading a plaque. Was she this childs designated adult? As it was, he saw no harm in answering the question asked. "Those are peahens. They are the female variant of the peacock, the more colorful ones there," he provided.

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"Oh." James took in this information, his face screwed up in contemplation. He supposed it made some kind of sense. Human girls didn't look exactly the same as human boys, after all. Still... "Why are the males so much more colorful?"

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Now that Josiah wasn't completely sure of. He had learned one thing but it didn't really answer why the genders of the species were different coloured. "The male is more colourful so it can find itself a wife." That was a child friendly answer, he was certain. Personally, he didn't feel it fully answered the question but it was the one he had been provided.

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James supposed that made sense. Kind of. Except... "But how does he decide on a wife? If they all look..." He waved a hand at the birds. "...Ugly?"

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"In a peacocks eyes, perhaps they are not ugly," Josiah proffered. "They also do not quite focus on looks but rather how well the male can perform." At least that was how Josiah understood it and it wasn't like Kit knew anything about avian species.

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James supposed it was true that ugly humans got married all the time, so it must be true with birds, too. Though James wasn't clear on the bird equivalent of a "nice personality" or a "very large dowry"--things he'd heard adults mention in conversations he probably wasn't supposed to be listening to. So he asked, "Perform at what?"

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Set by MJ <3

Did this child not have parents? Was he just left to ask awkward questions of innocent townsfolk? Josiah took a look around but no one seemed to want to see fit to claim and whisk this young boy away. "The male will dance with his tail feathers all on display. The more impressive they are, the more attractive the peahen will consider them."

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"Ohhh." James nodded. "That makes sense, I guess." James thought that seemed like a lot of undue pressure on the poor peacock, but people seemed to be like that, so at least it was a familiar kind of unfairness.

James was trying to think of a way to phrase his next dozen questions, when he heard his name being called. Oops. "My gran is calling me. It was nice talkin' to you!"

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Set by MJ <3