The Guinea Fowl, or Pintado. 309 



epithet of pearled has been applied to this bird ; which 

 at first sight appears as if it had been pelted by a strong 

 shower of hail. 



If trained when young, these birds may easily be ren- 

 dered tame. M. Brue informs us, that when he was on 

 the coast of Senegal he received as a present from an 

 African princess two Guinea fowls. Both these birds 

 were so familiar that they would approach the table and 

 eat out of his plate ; and, when they had liberty to fly 

 about upon the beach, they always returned to the ship 

 when the dinner or supper bell rang. 



In a wild state, it is asserted that the Pintado associ- 

 ates in large flocks. Dampier speaks of having seen be- 

 tween two and three hundred of them together in the 

 Cape de Verd Islands. They were originally introduced 

 into our country from the coast of Africa somewhat 

 earlier than the year 1260. 



In Jamaica, where they have run wild, and become 

 very destructive to the plantations, they are sometimes 

 caught, Mr. Gosse tells us, by the following stratagem : 

 A small quantity of corn is steeped for a night in proof 

 rum and is then placed in a shallow vessel, with a littlfi 

 fresh rum, and the water expressed from a bitter cassava 

 grated. This is deposited within an enclosed ground to 

 which the depredators resort. A small quantity of the 

 grated cassava is then strewed over it, and it is left. 

 The fowls eat the medicated food greedily, and are soon 

 found reeling about intoxicated, unable to escape, and 

 content with thrusting their heads into a corner. It is 

 almost unnecessary to observe that in this state they 

 become an easy prey. Pigeons are sometimes caught 

 in this manner in Germany by the poachers. 



This bird has, of late years, greatly increased in this 

 country, and is often seen hanging at the poultry shops 

 and in the markets ; the great abundance of them has 

 considerably reduced their value, and they now sell, 

 proportionally, like other fowls. The eggs are smaller 

 and rounder than those of the common hen, and of a 

 speckled reddish-brown colour. They are esteemed a 

 very delicate food. 



