THE PARTRIDGE. 



439 



1^ — 



The Domestic Turkey, 



Every one knows the curious, almost articulate, cry of the Guinea 

 Fowl, its "Come back! come back!" being continually uttered wher- 

 ever the bird is kept, and often affording a clew to its presence. 



The forehead of the Guinea Fowl 

 is surmounted by a horny casque, 

 and the naked skin round the eyes 

 falls in wattles below the throat. In 

 the male the wattles are purplish 

 red, and in the female they are red 

 without any mixture of blue, and 

 are of smaller size. The legs are 

 without spurs. The pretty spotted 

 plumage of this bird is too well 

 known to need description. 



Of the many members of *the Per- 

 dicine group, we shall take only one 

 example, the well-known English 

 Partridge. 



This bird, so dear to British sportsmen, is found spread over the 

 greater part of Europe, always being found most plentifully near cul- 

 tivated ground. It feeds upon various substances, such as grain and 

 seeds in the autumn, and green leaves and insects in the spring and 

 early summer. 



Small slugs are a favorite diet with the Partridge, which has a spe- 

 cial faculty for discover- 

 ing them in the recesses 

 where they hide them- 

 selves during the day, and 

 can even hunt successfully 

 after the eggs of these de- 

 structive creatures. Cat- 

 erpillars are also eaten by 

 this bird, and the terrible 

 black grub of the turnip 

 is consumed in great num- 

 bers. Even the white cab- 

 bage butterfly, whose nu- 

 merous offspring are so 

 hurtful in the kitchen- 

 garden, falls a victim to 

 the quick-eyed Partridge, 

 which leaps into the air 

 and seizes it in its beak as it comes fluttering unsuspectingly over the 

 bird's head. 



The Guinea Fowl {Nvmida vieleaaiii^). 



