22O2 



THE GAME BIRDS AND RAILS 



Sierra Leone to the Gold Coast, its habits being very similar to those of the common 

 guinea fowl. Allied forms of both these genera are found in both Southern and 

 Eastern Africa, but need no special mention. 



The vulture-like guinea fowl (AcrylUum vulturinum) is a native of 

 Vulture-like Eastern Africa, possibly ranging into West Africa. The head and 



upper half of the neck are naked, and covered with cobalt blue skin, 

 Fowl 



with the exception of a horseshoe-shaped band of velvety reddish- 

 brown feathers round the nape. The feathers of the neck, chest, and mantle are 

 developed into long, black, pointed hackles, with white shaft stripes and cobalt mar- 

 gins, the rest of the upper parts being black, minutely dotted all over with white, 

 and covered with small, round, black-edged spots; the sides and flanks are also 



GROUP OF GUINEA FOWL. 



similarly marked, but are washed with purple, and the breast and under parts are 

 cobalt blue, but black down the middle. The tail feathers resemble the upper parts 

 in their markings, but the middle pair are much elongated and pointed. The male 

 is similar to the female, but larger, and with four or five wart-like knobs on each 

 leg. 



The last group of the family is a somewhat aberrant one, comprising 

 the turkeys, all of which are natives of North and Central America, 

 where three distinct species and two local races are known. The common turkey 

 (Meleagris gallopavd) comes from the table lands of Northern Mexico and the neigh- 

 boring States, and is recognized by the broad white tips to the upper tail coverts 

 and tail; while in the species (M. americana} of the Eastern States these parts are 

 dark chestnut. The handsomest member of the group is, however, the ocellated 

 turkey (M. ocellata) of Guatemala, Yucatan, and British Honduras, each of the tail 

 feathers being ornamented with a greenish-blue eye spot shot with purple, while the 

 metallic parts of the body feathers are golden or bronze green, and the naked head 

 and neck blue covered with red warts. Like its allies, the common turkey is polyg- 



