GUINEA FOWLS 



22OI 



Africa, except the more northern parts, as well as Madagascar. The common 

 species (_Numida meleagris} is also a native of West Africa, ranging from Sene- 

 gambia to the Gabun, and may be distinguished by having a wide vinous-gray 

 collar covering the upper part of the mantle and chest. The bare skin on the sides 

 of the face, neck, and chin, as well as the wattles are red, and the rest of the neck 

 bluish. It is shown 

 in the right-hand 

 figure of the pre- 

 ceding cut. Like 

 the rest of its kind it 

 is gregarious, often 

 collecting in large 

 flocks, particularly 

 on the grass-covered 

 plains bordering the 

 forest. It is shy and 

 difficult to approach, 

 always preferring to 

 escape by running, 

 in which respect it 

 has few equals. The 

 Abyssinian guinea 

 fowl (N. ptilorhyn- 

 cha], which extends 

 into Equatorial Af- 

 rica, is peculiar in 

 having a bunch of 

 horny bristles at the 

 base of the upper 

 mandible. The left- 

 hand figure of our 

 illustration on p. 

 2 200, represents the 

 crested guinea fowl 

 ( Guttera cristata ) , 

 one of four species 

 belonging to a group 

 characterized by 

 having a well-devel- 

 oped crest of black feathers, the general color of the plumage being black spotted 

 with pale blue, and the first four or five secondary quills margined with white, thus 

 producing a white band along the wing when closed. The present species is 

 further characterized by the uniform black collar covering the upper part of the 

 chest, and by the naked skin of the head and neck being cobalt blue, except on the 

 chin and throat, which are red. This is another West- African form, ranging from 



VULTURE-UKE GUINEA FOWL PERCHING. 



(From Sclater, List of Animals in Zoological Gardens.) 



