BIRDS OP NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA 433 



brightly colored in life (red, blue or violet, and white). Sexes alike in 

 coloration. 



Range. — Africa and Madagascar. (Two species with over 20 races.) 



NUMIDA MELEAGRIS GALEATA Pallas 



Gray-breasted Helmet Guineafowl 



Adult (sexes alike). — Head and foreneck bare of feathers except for 

 a thin scattered line of black hairlike feathers from the occiput down the 

 hindneck along the middorsal line ; breast, lower part of back, and sides 

 of neck light brownish drab to light vinaceous-drab ; interscapulars and 

 upper back between drab and hair brown abundantly speckled with small 

 white spots, each completely bordered with fuscous to dark fuscous, and 

 finely vermiculatcd and peppered with pale bufTy drab ; ground color of 

 back, lower back, rump, upper tail coverts, scapulars and upper wing 

 coverts chaetura black finely peppered with pale drab and closely speckled 

 with white spots, the spots largest on the upper wing coverts and scapulars 

 where the drab dots mark off diamond-shaped areas each of which con- 

 tains one white spot ; secondaries similar with the white spots arranged in 

 three or four longitudinal rows on each web, those next to the outer edge 

 of the outer web extended into a fringe of short diagonal white bars ; 

 primaries without the drab peppering and with fewer but larger white 

 marks, those on the outer webs of the outer feathers forming irregular 

 bars ; tail feathers like their upper coverts but with the white spots larger; 

 lower breast, all of abdomen except the posteromedian part, sides, flanks, 

 and under tail coverts fuscous-black to black with abundant, larger some- 

 what more oval white spots and without any fine peppering of drab be- 

 tween these spots ; posteromedian part of abdomen and thighs dusky 

 sepia to dark clove brown abundantly covered with white spots smaller 

 than those of the rest of the underparts of the body and slightly tinged 

 with pale drab ; under wing coverts dusky sepia to clove brown spotted 

 with white, the white spots faintly tinged wih drab ; iris dark brown ; 

 maxilla burnt sienna, horn gray at the tip ; mandible horn gray ; a small 

 dark red patch near corner of mouth ; bare skin of chin, throat, and neck, 

 brownish black, in front of and below eye, across auriculars and sides of 

 neck very pale Cambridge blue, almost white ; forehead and skin over eyes 

 slate-black ; helmet burnt umber ; nares dark red ; wattle and line from 

 them to nares scarlet-vermilion; legs and feet blackish brown (soft parts 

 ex Bannerman). 



Siihadiilt (sexes alike). — Similar to the adult but the upper breast 

 spotted like the lower breast and abdomen, the spots smaller ; some plumu- 

 laceous feathers around ear openings, and with the lower throat retaining 

 some of the immature feathers with pale shafts. 



Immature (sexes alike). — Similar to the adult but with the hindneck, 

 interscapulars, and back much browner — sepia but with the same spotted 



