THE GUINEA-FOWL. 



227 



In close confinement, the female rarely hatches 

 her eggs, the want of freedom interfering with 

 her natural instincts. Few birds, indeed, are 

 more recluse and shy during the time of incu- 

 bation, or more cautious in concealing their 

 nest. It is generally made among dense brush- 

 wood, or in similar retreats. The number of 

 eggs varies from twelve to twenty. They are 

 smaller than those of the common fowl, and of 

 a pale yellowish-red, minutely dotted with dark 

 points. 



There are several varieties of the Guinea- 

 fowl, such as the white, the spotted, the Mada- 

 gascar, and the crested. Charlevoix pretends 

 that a wild race of these birds is found in St. 

 Domingo and others of the West India Islands, 

 which is said to have been imported from 

 Guinea. 



The Guinea-fowl differs from all other poul- 

 try in its being difficult to distinguish the male 

 from the female ; the chief difference being in 

 the color of the wattles, which are more of a red 

 hue in the male, and more tinged with blue in 

 the female. The male also has more of a state- 

 ly strut. 



From the earliest times to the present, it has 

 been no great favorite with poultry-keepers, and 

 but few have patronized them ; and is one of 

 those unfortunate beings which, from having 

 been occasionally guilty of a few trifling faults, 

 has gained a much worse reputation than it 

 really deserves, as if it were the most ill-be- 

 haved bird in creation ; whereas it is useful, or- 

 namental, and interesting during life, and when 

 dead, if young, its flesh is tender, very supe- 

 rior, resembling in flavor our partridge, and a 

 desirable addition to our dinners at a time 

 when all other poultry is scarce and out of 

 season. 



"We have heard complaints," say the au- 

 thors of the " Poultry Book," " of the large pro- 

 portion of ' bad,' that is, unfertile, eggs, which 

 are laid by them ; but this occurs only because 

 those who keep them are ignorant of the fact 

 that they pair like our domestic pigeons, and 

 that very rarely indeed does the male bird prove 

 unfaithful to his mate. This is no drawback 

 upon their being kept for the purpose of profit, 

 since the male of the second year is excellent 



for the table, and should be slaughtered early 

 in the spring, to make way for a youthful suc- 

 cessor." 



Various attempts have been made to havo 

 the Guinea-fowl wild in England. In the north 

 and in Ireland they all perished during the win- 

 ter, and in the south of England we have been 

 informed of an instance where they were obliged 

 to be destroyed to prevent the entire driving 

 away of other feathered game, which they were 

 rapidly effecting. 



Description. The beak is short, stout, slight- 

 ly curved, and whitish, having a warted bluish- 

 red membrane at its base ; wattles fleshy and 

 scarlet ; eye black, prominent, and bright ; eye- 

 brow very distinctly marked and arched ; head 

 and neck covered with downy feathers, like 

 those of the Silk fowl; forehead surmounted 

 by a long casque ; tail short, and pitching down- 

 ward like that of the quail ; legs blue, with a 

 tinge, in places, of flesh-color. The plumage, 

 though not decorated with rich and dazzling 

 colors, is singularly beautiful, being spangled 

 all over with white spots, varying in size from 

 that of a pea to infinite minuteness, on a bluish- 

 black ground. The weight of the male very 

 slightly exceeds that of the female; and, in- 

 deed, the hens of the same brood have been 

 known to outweigh the cocks. 



The Guinea-fowl is a lively, restless, turbu- 

 lent bird, that dislikes confinement in the same 

 place, and, being very pugnacious, contrives to 

 become master of the poultry-yard, domineer- 

 ing over the fowls, and boldly attacking even 

 the fiercest turkey cock ; for, though much small- 

 er in size, it gains the ascendency over them by 

 the mere dint of petulent pugnacity. 



Its rapid mode of running, its short wings, 

 and pendent tail, its short flight when forced to 

 take wing, remind us of the partridge, which it 

 also much resembles in the contour of its body. 

 It fs also one of those birds which, by wallowing 

 in the dust, rid themselves of vermin. They 

 also scrape or scratch the ground, like the com- 

 mon fowl. 



The desirability of having the males and hens 

 in similar numbers renders the inquiry import- 

 ant, how to distinguish the one from the other. 

 There is but one unerring characteristic, and 



