AVES—GUINEA HEN. 597 
THE PINTADG. (OR GUINEA HEN} 
Is aoout the size of a common hen, but, as it is supported on longer legs, it 
locks 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 wild 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 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 distin- 
guished asunder. The principal distinction is in the wattles; those of the 
cock being of a bluish cast, while those of the f2male 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 far 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. 
Numida meleagris, Liy. The gentis Numida has the bill short, thick, arched, the 
base covered with a warted membrane, and a cartsculated 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; the three fore toes united by mem- 
branes ; hiud toe joined on the tarsus; tail short ; bent down. 
