410 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



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WALLACE'S PAINTED MEGAPODE 



This bird buries its eggs in the sand, burrowing for each a slanting hole from J to 

 4/ett deep 



in the Hindu States it is not allowed 

 to be killed under any circumstances. 

 There are two, some say three, distinct 

 species of peacock, but they all closely 

 resemble one another. 



Brief mention will serve for the 

 GUINEA-FOWLS and TURKEYS, since 

 they are well known to us all. GUINEA- 

 FOWLS are African birds. The farm- 

 yard form, popularly known as " Come- 

 backs," from their peculiar cry 

 " come-back, come-back, come-back," 

 is a descendant of the common 

 helmeted form, of which type there 

 are eight distinct species. Besides 

 these are four crested species ; one 

 very beautiful species known as the 

 VULTURE LIKE GUINEA-FOWL; and 

 one, the rarest of all, known as the 

 BLACK GUINEA-FOWL. Even in the 

 British Museum, writes Mr. Ogilvie Grant, " there are only two examples of it, and neither of 

 these are perfect specimens." It was discovered by M. Du Chaillu. " One day," he says, " I 

 went out hunting by myself, and, to my great joy, shot another new bird, a black wild-fowl, one 

 of the most singular birds I have seen in Africa. . . . The head, where it is bare, is in the 

 female of a pink hue, and in the male of a bright scarlet. . . . Wild they are, and most 

 difficult to approach, and rare, even in the forests where they are at home." They do not 

 travel in huge flocks, like other guinea-fowls, but a male and two females at most. 



The familiar form of the TURKEY scarcely needs description ; but most people are probably 

 puzzled by its name. Why Turkey? The bird is a native of America, so it certainly cannot 

 have anything to do with its place of origin. Professor Newton has it that it is on account 

 of its call-note, " to be syllabled ' turk, turk, turk,' whereby it may almost be said to have 

 named itself." 



The domesticated turkey is descended from the MEXICAN TURKEY, and was probably 

 introduced into Europe during the sixteenth century. This, according to Captain Bendire, is 

 a mountain-living species, and still abundant in the wilder portions of Western Texas and 

 New Mexico. It appears to attain greater bulk than its domesticated descendant, Captain 

 Bendire having recorded a specimen shot by himself which weighed 28 Ibs. after having been 

 drawn, and heavier birds are said to occur occasionally. 



The Mexicans say that the coyotes catch turkeys by running in circles under the tree 

 in which they are roosting, till the birds get dizzy with watching them, and fall down into 

 the open mouths below ! 



There are three distinct kinds of turkey the MEXICAN, AMERICAN, and HONDURAS 

 TURKEY. The last is a very fine bird, with a bright blue head and neck, instead of 

 red. The top of the head is adorned with numerous scarlet, berry-like warts, looking like 

 holly-berries. 



The BOB-WHITES, which belong to the group of tooth-billed game-birds known as American 

 Partridges and Quails, demand a brief reference here. The species represented in the illus- 

 tration on page 399 is common in the lowlands of Texas. It is a very unsuspicious bird, and 

 in consequence falls an easy prey to foxes, hariers, and rattlesnakes, the last-named being the 

 worst enemies, as many as five of these unfortunate birds having been taken at one time from 

 the stomach of one of these monsters, and on another occasion a female and half a dozen of 

 her eggs were similarly discovered. 



