THE GUINEA FOWL. 



551 



origin almost certain. Many of these sub-races 

 have been crossed, and we believe in every 

 case the progeny have proved fertile. Of these 

 various races of Guinea fowls, some have a 

 peculiar bony helmet on the top of the head ; 

 others have this replaced by a crest of feathers, 

 the shape and size of which crest varies ; and 

 in a third section which appears to have 

 more distinctiveness, there is neither crest nor 

 helmet, and such a general resemblance to the 

 vulture that the bird has been graphically 

 termed the Vulturine Guinea Fowl. 



To the first or helmeted group belongs 

 the common Guinea Fowl of West Africa, or 

 Nitmida tnclcagris, long regarded as the original 

 of our domestic race. Some author- 

 Wild ities have objected to this view, on 

 Varieties. the ground that as the bird is ad- 

 mitted to have been known to the 

 Romans, and they had more intercourse with 

 the Egyptian side of the great African 

 continent, one of the varieties common in 

 Abyssinia is more likely to have been the 

 original. It may have been so with the Roman 

 birds ; but in regard to the present European 

 stock, not only is the name entitled to 

 weight in a case of this kind, but at Bristol, 

 which is a considerable centre of the West 

 African trade, we have on many occasions seen 

 Guinea fowls perched on the rigging of African 

 vessels, brought from the coast by sailors ; 

 and in every case these birds were obviously 

 identical with the domestic breed, both in head 

 and plumage, being only somewhat slighter 

 in build. 



The wild crested varieties are chiefly found 

 in Eastern and Central Africa, though one or 

 two are known en the West Coast. They have 

 black crests instead of the bony casque, the 

 spots are blue instead of white, and the necks 

 and wattles are more or less blue. Specimens 

 are sometimes to be found at the Zoological 

 Gardens in Regent's Park, London, and some 

 have been so beautiful as to give interest to 

 the probable prospect of their becoming better 

 known with the opening up of Uganda. 



The finest variety of Guinea fowls belongs 

 to the class with neither helmet nor crest, and 

 is known as the Royal Vulturine Guinea fowl. 

 The neck and tail are very long in comparison 

 with the common variety, and the other points 

 have been described as follows : The head and 

 upper part of the throat are destitute of feathers, 

 the lower part of the neck ornamented with 

 long, lanceolate, and flowing feathers, having 

 a broad stripe of white down the centre, to 

 which on each side succeeds a line of dull 

 black, finely dotted with white, and margined 



with fine blue. The feathers of the inferior 

 part of the back are of similar form, but 

 broader, with a narrower line of white down 

 the centre, and with the minute white dots 

 disposed in irregular and obliquely transverse 

 lines. The wing-coverts, back, rump, tail, under 

 tail-coverts, and thighs, are blackish brown, 

 ornamented with numerous spots of white sur- 

 rounded by circles of black, the intermediate 

 spaces being filled by very minute spots of 

 white ; the primaries are brown, with light 

 shafts and spots of brownish white on the 

 outer web ; the secondaries brownish black on 

 the tips, with three imperfect lines of white 

 disposed lengthwise on the outer web, and 

 three rows of spots of white on the inner 

 web ; the breast and sides of the abdomen 

 are of a beautiful metallic blue, the centre of 

 the abdomen black, the flanks dull pink, with 

 numerous spots of white surrounded by circles 

 of black. Mr. Gould writes of this magnificent 

 variety of Guinea fowl : " It is certainly one 

 of the most noble birds that has been dis- 

 covered for some years." It is the long neck 

 adorned with lanceolate feathers, the absence 

 of casque or crest, and the long tail and legs, 

 which give it so strange a resemblance to the 

 vulture. It has been introduced into one or 

 two menageries ; but appears more delicate 

 in cold situations than any of the preceding 

 kinds. 



As a rule the common Guinea fowl is 

 very uniform in colour, the wattles being red, 

 the neck bare near the head, with a great 

 deal of white about it and a thin mane of 

 bristles behind, and the general plumage 

 marked with small round white spots all over 

 a very dark purplish grey ground. Variations 

 do, however, occur in a state of domestica- 

 tion. In some birds the spots have almost 

 disappeared : in a few the colour is reversed, 

 the spots being dark and the ground-colour 

 light grey : quite white birds are also known 

 (Ellis mentions white ones in Madagascar) ; 

 and from crosses of these last, pied fowls have 

 been produced. The birds are smaller than 

 they appear, rarely weighing more than 3i lbs. ; 

 but the bones are small and fine also. The 

 flesh is dark, but very delicate, and of a 

 gamey flavour : for this reason the birds are 

 most in demand about February or March, 

 when game is going out, and spring chickens 

 are scarce and dear. At this season from 5s. 

 to 7s. per couple is sometimes realised for 

 plump birds, but the demand so far has been 

 limited : possibly it might be increased by a 

 regular supply. 



But for this limited demand, Guinea Fowls 



