AVES — GUINEA HEN. 597 



THE PINTADO, OR GUINEA HEN,i 



Is about the size of a common hen, but, as it is supported on longer legs, it 

 looks much larger. It has a round back, with a tail turned downwards like 

 a partridge. The head is covered with a kind of casque ; and the whole plu- 

 mage is black or dark grey, 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 sufficiently from all other birds what- 

 ever. 



It is well known all over Europe and America, and we find it in different 

 countries called by different names, from the place whence they had it. We 

 have given it the name of that part of Africa from whence probably it was 

 first brought, and where it is still found in a Avild state. Among the Ro- 

 mans they were in high repute for the table, and, being scarce, were sold at 

 a great price. 



In many parts of tlieir 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 distin- 

 guished asunder. The principal distinction is in the wattles ; those of the 

 cock being of a bluish cast, while those of the female incline to red. Their 

 eggs, like their bodies, are speckled; in our climate they lay but five or six 

 in a season ; but they are fiir more prolific in their sultry regions at home. 



There is a species of this bird with a very beautiful crest. There are also 

 some other varieties, which it would be tedious to describe. 



1 Numida melragris, Lik. The genus Numida has the bill short, thick, arched, the 

 base covered with a warted membrane, and a carunculated wattle hanging from the under 

 mandible ; nostrils situated in the cere, divided by a cartilage, head naked or feathered, 

 the crown with a callous horn or crest ; tarsus smooth ; tlie three fore toes united by mem- 

 branes ; hind toe joined on the tarsus ; tail short ; bent down, 



