2G0 



DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



TUB GITINEA-FOWL. 



guish them ; there is sometimes a difference of hue in certain parts ; 

 but this difference only occurs occasionally, and indeed it is on gait, voice, 

 and demeanor that we must chiefly depend. It must be remarked that 

 they pair; therefore a second hen will be neglected and useless except 

 for eggs. 



Like all the gallinaceous birds, the Guinea-fowl is esteemed for its 

 flesh and its eggs, which, though smaller than those of the common 

 fowl, aie very excellent and numerous, the hen commencing to lay in 

 the month of May, and continuing during the entire summer. After 

 the pheasant season, young birds of the year are, on the table, by no 

 means unworthy substitutes for that highly-prized game. Such birds are 

 acceptable in the London market, and fetch a fair price. The Guinea- 

 fowl is of a wil J, shy, rambling disposition ; and, domesticated as it is, 

 it pertinaciously retains its original habits, and is impatient of restraint. 

 It loves to wander along hedgerows, over meadows, through clover or 

 corn fields, and amidst copses and shrubberies; hence these birds re- 

 quire careful watching, for the hens will lay in secret places, and will 

 sometimes absent themselves entirely from the farm-yard until they 

 return with a young brood around them. So ingeniously will they 

 conceal themselves and their nest, so cautiously leave it and return to 

 it, as to elude the searching glance of boys well used to bird-nesting; 

 but it may always be found from the watchful presence of the cock 

 while the hen is laying. There is one disadvantage in this, the bird 

 will sit at a late period, and bring forth her brood when the season be- 

 gins to be too cold for the tender chickens. The best plan is, to con- 

 trive that the hens shall lay in a quiet secluded place, and to give about 

 twenty of the earliest ogg^ to a common hen ready to receive them, who 

 will perform the duties of incubation with steadiness. In this way a 

 brood in June may be easily obtained. The young must receive the 



