on the Black-collared Crested Guinea-fowl. 367


was broken, and it struck me as a wonderful thing that the bird

could get on so well and be so tame under these conditions, more

especially when it is remembered that these birds in their native

forests are of the shiest possible nature, being seldom seen,

although I believe very common where they occur.


The feeding was a difficult matter at first as insects were

very scarce, however I found that they took readily to raw meat

mixed with biscuit, and on this diet I managed to keep them,

giving insects when I could find them and occasionally hard-

boiled egg. I could not get them to touch native corn.


One incident I should like to mention to illustrate the

tameness of this species after three weeks of captivity. I was

sitting in my tent one morning and my boy, who was feeding

them, stupidly left the door open for a moment. I happened to

look out and saw one of these birds strolling quietly about 07it-

side, picking up a scrap of food here and there, perfectly happy,

and all the while chattering to himself. I immediately went out,

telling some of my men who came running up to go away again,

and walked slowly round the bird which by this time had wan-

dered some twenty yards from his cage. I gradually drove this

full-winged bird back and he entered without the least difficulty.


Besides the hissing and chattering, the call note, which is

usually uttered morning and evening, is very pretty, beiugalmost

bell-like, and is repeated rapidly six times with a short interval

between the second and third notes ; these six notes are repeated

several times, and then the call is sometimes ended by a screech,

but this ending is very often omitted.


To cut a long story short, I brought one of these birds

home with me, the other died on the voyage, much to my regret.


The bird is now in a large aviary but still quite tame,

coming inside as soon as it hears the door being opened, and

taking any tit-bit from my hand.


Its favourite food now consists of cockroaches, but it also

picks up a lot of seed and I have several times seen it swallow

large worms with great relish.


It is really a charming bird and should be easily

domesticated. There should be no difficulty in- importing them

from West Africa where they are, I believe, common^though

possibly not easily obtained.



