THE POULTRY KIND. 



503 



manners of the bird itself, know what credit 

 ought to be given to such an account. 



Of the pheasant, as of all other domestic 

 fowl, there are many varieties. There are 

 white pheasants, crested pheasants, spotted 

 pheasants ; but of all others, the golden phea- 

 sant of China is the most beautiful, it is a 

 doubt whether the peacock itself can bear 

 the comparison. However, the natives of 

 China would not have us consider it as their 



most beautiful bird, though covered all over 

 with eyes, resembling in miniature those of 

 the peacock. By their accounts, it is far ex- 

 ceeded by the fongwang, an imaginary bird, 

 of which they give a most fantastic descrip- 

 tion. It is thus that the people ol every coun- 

 try, though possessed of the greatest advan- 

 tages, have still others that they would per- 

 suade strangers they enjoy, which have exist- 

 ence only in the imagination. 



CHAPTER XCII1. 



THE PINTADA, OR GUINEA-HEN, 



THIS is a very remarkable bird, and in 

 some measure unites the characteristics of the 

 pheasant and the turkey. It has the fine de- 

 licate shape of the one, and the bare head of 

 the other. To be more particular, it is about 

 the size of a common hen, hut as it is support- 

 ed on longer legs, it looks much larger. It 

 has a round back, with a tail turned down- 

 wards like a partridge. The head is cover- 

 ed with a kind of casque; and the whole 

 plumage is black or dark gray, speckled with 

 white spots. It has wattles under the bill, 

 which do not proceed from the lower chap 

 as in cocks, but from the upper, which gives 

 it a very peculiar air; while its restless gait 

 and odd chuckling sound distinguish it suffi- 

 ciently from all other birds whatever. 



It is well known all over Europe, and even 

 better than with us, as the nations that bor- 

 der on the Mediterranean probably had it 

 before us from those parts of Africa which 

 Jay nearest. Accordingly we find it in differ- 

 ent countries called by different names, from 



the place whence they had it. They are by 

 some called the Barbary-hen ; by others, the 

 Tamis bird; and by others, the bird of Numidia. 

 We have given it the name of that part of Af- 

 rica from whence probably it was first brought. 

 In many parts of their native country, they 

 are seen in vast flocks together, feeding their 

 young, and leading them in quest of food. 

 All their habits are like those of the poultry 

 kind, and they agree in every other respect, 

 except that the male and female are so much 

 alike, that they can hardly be distinguished 

 asunder. The only difference lies in the 

 wattles described above ; which in the cock 

 are of a bluish cast; in the hen they are 

 more inclining to a red. Their eggs, like 

 their bodies, are speckled ; in our climate, 

 they lay but five or six in a season : but they 

 are far more prolific in their sultry regions at 

 home. They are kept among us rather for 

 show than use, as their flesh is not much es- 

 teemed, and as they give a good deal oi trou- 

 ble in the rearing 



