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GENUS NUMIDA, Linnaus. 



THE last form which we have to describe in this 

 Family is the Guinea Fowl, as they are generally 

 termed, constituting the genus Numida of Lin- 

 naeus. It contains only three or four species, all na- 

 tives of Africa, and some of them were known to the 

 ancients. During the zenith of the Roman Empire 

 they bore a high value at the public feasts, and with 

 its decline were for a time lost to Europe, to which 

 they were again most probably introduced by the early 

 Spanish navigators. Their plumage is very ample, 

 their form compact and huddled together, and more 

 formed for abode on the ground than for flight. 

 The bill is curved and strong. They are gregarious* 

 and roost on trees. We have figured as examples 



