74 



ORNAMENTAL FOWL. 



precious stones, when viewed in certain lights. The bill, which is 

 of a grayish horn colour, is rather longer and more slender than 

 in the common species ; the iris is deep hazel ; the legs are strong, 

 naked, reticulated, and of a dusky black ; and the spurs, which 

 are extremely large, are of the same hue. It is a curious fact, 

 that, although the cock of this species is much darker in colour 

 than the common peacock, the hen, on the contrary, is much 

 lighter in colour than the common peahen. We have no parti- 

 culars of the habits of these birds in their native state, but there 

 can be no doubt, that they are identical with those of the other 

 species, as there seems to be but little difference between their 

 manners in captivity. 



THE PINTADO, OR GUINEA FOWL, 



Inrsome measure unites the characteristics of the pheasant and 

 the turkey : it has the fine, delicate shape of the one, and the 

 bare head of the other. It is about the size of the common hen, 

 but being supported on longer legs, it appears larger. 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. It has a round back, with a tail turned down- 

 wards, like a partridge. The head is covered with a kind of casque, 

 and the whole plumage is black or dark gray, speckled with white 

 spots. It has wattles from the bill, which do not proceed from 

 the lower chaps, as in common cocks, but from the upper, which 



