NATURAL SCIENCES OP PHILADELPHIA. 803 



I have never seen the nest on the ground. The eggs dull white, generally 

 round oval, measuring l T 3 g by one inch. 



There is another rare species closely allied to this dove, known here as the 

 Spanish Pea dove, (not the Starnoeuas.) Some years back I obtained one of a 

 pair shot at Gregory Park, near the railway station, half way between Spanish 

 Town and Kingston, but it was unfortunately destroyed by rats whilst in 

 preparation. It had the appearance of a cross between the Pea Dove and 

 White Belly. 



GALLINACEA. 



235. Ncmida mitrata? The wild Guinea bird appears distinct from the 

 tame one. It is in length twenty inches ; expanse thirty ; flexure nine. 

 The eye is black, the beak and feet smoky black or dark brown, sometimes 

 red above the knee ; the plumage dark indigo, spangled white. They lay in 

 tall grass or shrubby thickets; each individual lays thirteen or more eggs. 

 Many pairs, however, usually breed together, possibly the old birds and 

 nestlings of the previous year. In 1838 I found at the foot of a large cashaw 

 tree, in a wide belt of Penguins, a nest containing more than one hundred 

 eggs, and in 1843 another in a Guinea grass piece, with forty eggs, and as 

 many more shells, from which the chicks had emerged, lying about the nest : 

 I removed the eggs of the last nest and placed them under hens in the poultry 

 yard. M my of them were hatched in batches of three or four at intervals of 

 several days. When we first approached both nests, several old birds ran 

 from the place and flew away ; the eggs in both instances were deposited in 

 layers with dry leaves and twigs intermixed, and I am told by many of the 

 cattlemen, accustomed to range the woods and pastures in getting up cattle, 

 that they have always found the nests with a large number of eggs in each 

 nest, the Guinea birds always breeding in company and sitting together, and 

 that, as a number of chicks are hatched and are able to quit, one of the hens 

 leads them off to feed, the others remaining on the nest ; and so in succession 

 until the clutching be completed ; each successive hen joining the first, and 

 returning at night until the whole are hatched, and the young are strong 

 enough to take a wide range. This species is very difficult to domesticate, 

 for, though clutched under a fowl, they will almost as soon as they are 

 hatched, quit the nest and take to the grass and bushes, unless kept in a 

 close place ; and even after they are full grown, will join the wild flock at the 

 earliest opportunity. The domestic bird is often found in company with the 

 wild flocks, and I have frequently shot a cross between the two. The eggs are 

 generally one and eleven-sixteenths by one and seven-sixteenths, and are 

 much darker than those of the domestic bird, usually a dark reddish drab, 

 with, however, the same indented points. 



100. Numida meleagkis. The domestic Guinea Fowl is much varied in 

 plumage ; some are nearly black with little of the spotted plumage, some are 

 dark blue, whilst others are of various shades, from ashy blue to pearly white. 

 It breeds from March to December, and lays at each clutch from fifteen to 

 twenty eggs or more. A single bird has been known to lay more than sixty 

 eggs in a season, when the eggs have been from time to time removed without 

 permitting the bird to sit. The eggs are round oval, abruptly pointed at one 

 end, and generally measure two by one and five-eighths of an inch ; they are 

 from clayish white to dark reddish drab, thickly speckled all over with 

 indented points of a darker hue. 



101. Ortyx virginianus. The Quail abounds in all parts of the Island. 

 They lay on the ground, generally in tufts of grass roots, or in penguin fences, 

 or under heaps of bushes, with only the materials of grass or leaves found on 

 the spot for a nest. This contains usually from twelve to twenty eggs, which 

 are oval pointed, measuring one and one-fourth by one inch. During the period 



1863.] 



