27 



coloured bird, but with a more delicate constitution and loss 

 of size. 



The Guinea Fowl although domestic, retains much of its 

 wild nature, usually making its nest away from the home- 

 stead, in a wood or hedgerow, still it has become a genuine 

 farm-yard bird, but it will not thrive confined as the common 

 fowl in a small enclosure. 



The Guinea Fowls are essentially African, about nine 

 species of the genus are known, the British bird is Numida 

 meleagris, but there is reason to believe that the bird domesti- 

 cated in ancient times by the Romans was an allied species 

 from Abyssinia, Numida ptilorhyncha , I cannot ascertain 

 whether this latter species is still a domestic bird. 



The Peacock is an Indian bird, and -ilthough tamer 

 than the guinea fowl it retains many wild habits, it chooses 

 its spot for nesting, and roosts in trees. 



This bird is not domestic in an economic sense, but is 

 kept almost entirely for its beauty, there are two races of 

 peacocks, the common and the black- winged pea-fowl ; there 

 is also a distinct species from Java, kept as an aviary bird. 



Pea-fowl have been domestic from a remote antiquity, 

 and nearly three thousand years ago, King Solomon, the 

 first naturalist ot whom we have a record, imported them 

 into Palestine clearly on account of their great beauty, it is 

 instructive here to notice that although at the same time 

 that wise monarch imported apes, no further progress has 

 been made in the domestication of any of that order of 

 animals. 



The eight birds dealt with belonging to the Anatine and 

 Galline orders, widely apart as these two divisions are, 

 agree in several respects ; they are all excellent for food, all 

 produce their young perfect and clothed, capable of feeding 

 themselves a few hours after being hatched, and none require 

 to be confined, if granted entire liberty they do not desert 

 the homestead ; there is but one other domestic b!rd tlie 

 Pigeon, in which this attachment to locality is not only 

 equalled but greatly exceeded, these nine birds indeed arc all 



