88 THH PINTADO. 



skin of a bluish colour; on the top is a callous protuBeranei 

 of a conical form. At the base of the bill on each side 

 hangs a loose wattle, red in the female and bluish in the 

 male. The general colour of the plumage is a dark bluisA 

 gray, sprinkled with round white spots of different sizes, 

 resembling pearls, from which circumstance the epithet of 

 pearled has been applied to this bird; which, at first sight^ 

 appears as if it had been pelted by a strong shower of hail. 

 These spots, which we find of a larger dimension upon sonw 

 of the feathers of the pheasant, and bigger still on the tail 

 of the peacock, are convincing proofs of a near relationship 

 between these fowls. 



ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTE. 



M. Brue informs us, that when he was on the coast of 

 Senegal, he received, as a present from an African princess, 

 two Guinea fowls. Both these birds were so familiar that 

 they would approach the table and eat out of his plate; 

 and, when they had liberty to fly about upon the beach, 

 they always returned to the ship when the dinner or supper 

 bell rang. 



In a wild state it is asserted that the Pintado associates 

 In numerous flocks. Dampier speaks of having seen betwixt 

 two and three hundred of them together in the Capo di 

 Verd Islands. 



