THE COMMON GUINEA-FOWL. 271 



proportiorad to inches, so, in cocking, a bird of superior size an<l 

 weight is brought to an equalitj with his adversary, by fixing the 

 Bteel spur so many scales of the leg above the natural spur, and thus 

 obliging him to fio^ht with a degree of disadvantage. It rarely hap- 

 pens that both cocks survive the combat. 



Some attempts have lately been made by writers on poultry, to 

 defend the sport of cock-fighting, on the grqund, that the disposition 

 of the fowl is to fight, and that in training them for that purpose, 

 men only make amusement of that which is necessary. But this is 

 merely an ingenious argument. All such contests have a brutalizing 

 influence on men. 



OF THE PINTADO TRIBE. 



The bill is strong and short, and the base is covered with a warty 

 or carunculated cere, which receives the nostrils: on the head there is 

 a horny or callous protuberance. The tail-feathers are short, and 

 bend downward. The feathers of the body are speckled. 



The four species of pintado hitherto known are all natives of 

 Africa, and of islands adjacent to the African coast. Their mode 

 of feeding is similar to that of the domestic poultry; they scrape the 

 ground with their feet, in search of insects, worms, and seeds. 



THE COMMON GUINEA-FOWL. 



In a wild state it is asserted that these birds associate in numerous 

 flocks. Dampier speaks of having seen between two and three 

 hundred of them together, in the Cape de 

 Verd Islands. They were originally intro- 

 duced into England from the coast of Africa, 

 somewhat earlier than the year 1260. 



They are now sufficiently common in the 

 poultry-yards of this country ; but from the 

 young-ones being difficult to rear, they are not 

 ored in numbers at all equal to those of the 

 domestic poultry. The females lay and hatch 

 their eggs nearly in the same manner as the 

 common hens. The eggs, however, are smaller than those of the hen, 

 and have a harder shell. M. de Buffon states that there is a remarka- 

 ble difference between the eggs of the domestic Guinea-Fowls, and 

 of those which are wild ; the latter being marked with small, round 

 spots, like those on the plumage of the birds ; and the former being, 

 when first laid, of a tolerably bright red, and afterwards of the faint 

 color of a dried rose. The young birds, for some tii^e after they come 

 into the world, are destitute of the helmet, or callous protuberance 

 which is so conspicuous on the heads of the old ones. 



The voice of the Guinea-Fowl is harsh, and, to some persons, un- 

 pleasant. It consists chiefly of two notes, ca-mac, ca-mac, ca^mac, 



OtJlNEA-TOWL. 



