GALLINACEiE. 349 



the tail red. The young, and the female, are brown, dashed 

 with grey and fawn-colour.(l) 



Meleagris, Lin. (2) 



The Turkeys have their head and upper part of the neck invested with 

 a plumeless and papillated skin; an appendage under the throat, and 

 another conical one on the forehead, which, in the male, when ex- 

 cited by passion, becomes so inflated and long, as to hang over the 

 point of the beak. From the lower part of the neck of the adult male 

 hangs a tuft or tassel of sliif hairs; the coverts of the tail shorter and 

 stiffer than in the Peacock can be erected and displayed in the same 

 way. The tarsi of the male are armed with weak spurs. But one 

 species was known for a long time. 



Meleagris gallo-pavo, L.; Enl. 97. (The Common Turkey.) 

 Introduced into Europe from America in the sixteenth century. 

 The size of this noble bird, and the goodness of its flesh, have 

 rendered it extremely common. The Wild Turkey of America, 

 Vieill. Gal. 201, is of a greenish brown, with a copper gloss. 

 A second species, however, 



M. ocellata, Cuv. Mem. Mus., VI, pi. 1; Col., 112, has lately 

 been described, almost equal to the Peacock in the brilliancy of 

 its colours, and particularly in the sapphire coloured spots, sur- 

 rounded with circles of gold and ruby, which decorate the tail. 

 It was captured in the bay of Honduras. 



NuMiDA, Lin. (3) 



The Guinea-fowls, or Pintados, have a naked head, fleshy wattles 

 at the bottom of the cheeks, a short tail, and the cranium generally 

 surmounted with a callous crest. Their feet are without spurs; their 

 short, pendent tail, and the quantity of feathers on the rump, give a 

 spherical air to the body. The common species, 



N. meleagris, L. ; Enl. 108 (The Common Guinea-Hen), 

 originally from Africa, has a slate-coloured plumage, every 



(1) JSlian appears to have previously known and described it. Hist., anno. L. 

 XVI, c. 2. Add the lophophore, Cuv., Tem. Col. pi. 1, with a pendent crest, black 

 body, and the edges of the dorsal feathers white; discovered by M. Duvaucel. It 

 is, perhaps, the Phasianus leucomelanos of Lath. The female is brown, edges of 

 the feathers on the breast whitish. 



(2) Meleaghis is the Greek name of the Guinea-Hen, erroneously applied by 

 Linnaus to the Turkey. 



(3) These birds were called Meleagrides by the ancient Greeks, who supposed 

 them to have sprung from the metamorphosis of Meleager's sisters. They looked 

 upon the spots on the feathers as traces of tears. The Romans called them Afri- 

 can Hens, &c. They have been found no where by the moderns except in Guinea. 



