NUMIDA MITRATA. 



EAST AFRICAN GUINEA-FOWL. 



(Plate 37, Fig. b.) 



Numida mitrata, Pallas. Spic. Zool., i, facs. iv, p. 18, PI. iii (1767) ; 

 Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xxii, p. 378 (1893) ; Shelley, 

 Birds of Afr., i, p. 183 (1896) ; Sharpe, Hand-List of Birds, i, 

 p. 44 (1899); Reichenow, Vogel Afrikas, i, p. 438 (1900-01); 

 Sclater, Ann. S. Afr. Mus., in, p. 355 (1905) ; Sclater & Stark, 

 Birds of S. Afr., iv, p. 232 (1906). 



Local Names. " Ikanka " of the Zambesi natives (Capt. Bo3'd 

 Alexander) ; " Kanga " of the Swaheli ; Mitred Guinea-Fowl of 

 some authors. 



Description. Length about 22 in. The sexes are ahke. The figure 

 in the Plate is copied from Sclater & Stark, Fauna of South 

 Africa, Vol. iv. 



Distribution. East Africa, from the Zambesi to Mombasa, and 

 quite common along the Uganda Railway. 



Within South African limits it has been obtained by the late 

 Capt. Boyd Alexander along the banks of the Zambesi. 



In habits the East African Guinea-Fowl exactly resembles 

 the Common Guinea-Fowl {N. coronata). In East Africa it is 

 exceedingly abundant, especially along the banks of rivers 

 and streams that are well fringed with bush, and its harsh 

 and unmistakeable cry can generally be heard in the early 

 mornings. 



I obtained some of these birds from a London bird-dealer 

 in the winter of 1910, and turned them loose about the 

 grounds of my house in Ireland in the beginning of the 

 following spring. They showed no inclination to breed, 

 but stayed close to the poultrj^-houses and fed with the 



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