PINTADA ITS HABITS. 



are so nearly alike, it is difficult to distinguish them. 

 They have also a peculiar gait and cry, or chuckling. 

 The head is covered with a kind of casque, with 

 wattles under the bill, and the whole plumage is 

 either black or dark grey, speckled with regular and 

 uniform white spots. The pintada is generally sup- 

 posed to be a native of Guinea, whence its additional 

 name ; but it is in equal plenty in America. In those 

 countries it perches on trees, and, in the wild state, 

 makes its nest in the holes of the palm-tree. It is 

 gregarious, and often found in large flocks. Like 

 the peacock, it may be said to be universally domes- 

 ticated. 



There is sometimes, but not invariably, a distinc- 

 tion of colour in certain parts, between the cock and 

 hen pintada ; the manner and gait of the cock, how- 

 ever, soon distinguish him. However long domes- 

 ticated, these birds retain some part of their original 

 wild habits, and will stray in search of a place in 

 which to drop their eggs, without any apparent so- 

 licitude as to their security. They lay an abundance 

 of eggs, smaller than those of the common hen, 

 speckled, resembling wild, rather than common, 

 eggs. It sometimes happens that they are everlast- 

 ing layers, in which case, and indeed generally, it is 

 most profitable to hatch pintadas under a common 

 hen, which will cover an additional number of those 

 small eggs. The chicks are extremely tender, and 

 should not be hatched too early in the spring ; a 

 sudden change of the wind in March, to the N. E., 

 has destroyed many a brood of them. 



