THE HELMETED GUINEA-FOV/LS. 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 ' (Z>r. Chaui). 

 The sweet potato, however, as I have been itiformed^ escapes 

 their ravages, being invariably rejected by them. To protect 

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

 course to scarecrovy'3, 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 v;hom 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 oric7italis (cf. J. f. O. 1876, p. 210), 



