THE IIELMETED GUINEA-FOWI.S. 89 



devouring the seed-yams and cocoe-heads, thus frustrating the 

 hopes of the husbandman in the bud. 'The corn is no sooner 

 put in the ground than it is scratched out ; and the peas are 

 not only dug up by them, but shelled in the pod ' {Dr. Cliam). 

 The sweet potato, however, as I have heeii informed, escapes 

 their ravages, being invariably rejected by them. To protect 

 the growing provisions, some of the negro peasants have re- 

 course to scarecrows, and others endeavour to capture the 

 birds by a common ' rat-gin ' set in their way. It must, how- 

 ever, be quite concealed, or it may as well be at home ; it is, 

 therefore, sunk in the ground, and lightly covered with earth 

 and leaves. A springe is useless, unless the cord be blackened 

 and discoloured so as to resemble the dry, trailing stem of 

 some creeper, for they are birds of extreme caution and sus- 

 picion. It is hence extremely difficult to shoot them, their 

 fears being readily alarmed, and their fleetness soon carrying 

 them beyond the reach of pursuit. But the aid of a dog, even 

 a common cur, greatly diminishes the difficulty. Pursuit by 

 an animal whose speed exceeds their own, seems to paralyse 

 them ; they instantly betake themselves to a tree, whence they 

 may be shot down with facility, as their whole senses appear 

 to be concentrated upon one subject, the barking cur beneath, 

 regarding whom with attent eyes and outstretched neck, they 

 dare not quit their position of defence. Flight cannot be 

 protracted by them, nor is it trusted to as a means of escape, 

 save to the extent of gaining the elevation of a tree ; the body 

 is too heavy, the wings too short and hollow, and the sternal 

 apparatus too weak, for flight to be any other than a painful 

 and laborious performance. 



"Though savoury, and in high request for the table, the 

 Guinea-Fowl sometimes acquires an insufferably rank odour, 

 from feeding on the fetid Pdiveria alliacea ; and is then 

 uneatable." 



A supposed new species from Zanzibar described by Cabanis 

 under the name of Numida orkntalis (cf. J. f. O. 1S76, p. 210), 



