31^ BIRDS. 



described almost equal to the Peacock in tlie brilliancy of its colours, 

 and particularly in the sapphire-coloured spots, surrounded with cir- 

 cles of gold and ruby, which decorate the tail, which, as to shape, 

 resembles that of the Common Turkey. It was captured in the bay 

 of Honduras. 



NuMiDA*, Lin. 



The Guinea-fowls, or Pintados, have a naked head, fleshy wattles at 

 the bottom of the cheeks, a short tail, and the cranium generally sur- 

 mounted with a callous crest. Their feet are without spurs; their short, 

 pendent tail, and the quantity of feathers on the rump, give a spherical air 

 to the body. The common species, 



N.meleagris, L. ; Enl. 108, (The Common Guinea-Hen), ori- 

 ginally from Africa, has a slate-coloured plumage, every where 

 sprinkled with small, white, round spots. Its noisy and quarrelsome 

 disposition render it a very unwelcome guest in poultry-yards, al- 

 though its flesh is excellent. In a wild state they live in large 

 flocks, and prefer the vicinity of marshes. There are also two 

 species, 



N. cristata and N. mitrata, Pall., Spic. IV, pi. ii and iii, fig. 1 ; 

 Vieill. Galer., pi. ccix, in the first of which the head is ornamented 

 with a plumed crest, and in the second with a conical helmet. A 

 third has lately been discovered in which the helmet is very small, 

 and which has a small tuft on the base of the bill, composed of 

 short stems, almost without barbs. N. ptylorhyncha, Licht. The 

 great genus, 



Phasianus, Lin. 



Or that of the Pheasants, is characterized by the cheeks being partly des- 

 titute of feathers, and covered with a red skin, and by the tectiform tail,, 

 in which the feathers are variously disposed. We first distinguish 



Gallus, 



The Cock, in which the head is surmounted with a vertical and fleshy crest, 

 and each side of the lower mandible furnished with fleshy wattles. The 

 quills of the tail, fourteen in number, are elevated on tv.^o vertical planes, 

 placed back to back ; the coverts of that of the male are extended into an 

 arch over the tail proper. The species so common in our barn yards. 



Phas. gallus, L. ; Enl. 1 and 49, (The Common Cock and Hen) 

 varies infinitely as to colour, and even greatly as to size; in some 

 races the crest is replaced by a tuft of feathers, or a top-knot; in 

 others the tarsi, and even the toes, are feathered; in one race the 

 crest, wattles, and periosteum of the whole skeleton, are black, and 

 in others, by a kind of monstrosity, we find five, and even six toes, 

 for several generations. 



• These birds were called Meleagrides by the ancient Greeks, who supposed them 

 to have sprung from the metamorphosis of Meleager's sisters. They looked upon 

 the spots on the feathers as traces of tears. The Romnns called them African hens, 

 itc. They have been found nowhere by the moderns except in Guinea. 



