FANCY FOOD FOWLS 245 
The feeding of the squabs is also very peculiar and interesting. In 
the crops of both parents there is prepared a cheesy substance which 
they pump into the mouth of the young. On this nourishing “ pigeon 
milk ”’ they grow with great rapidity, and in about five days it is replaced 
by grain which is softened in the parents’ stomachs; this method of feed- 
ing is continued until the squabs are old enough to feed themselves. The 
wonderful control of the passage of food to the crop and back again shown 
in the feeding of the young, is also illustrated in the way pigeons take 
water. They are the only bird that can drink like a horse, that is, with 
the head downward. 
Guinea Fowls. — These birds were originally found in the wild state 
in Africa, but have been reared by man since the days of the early Greeks 
and Romans, who kept them as table 
poultry. We often find a few of them on 
the farm, where they help to enliven the 
otherwise quiet situation with their pene- 
trating cries. They are very watchful and 
are pretty sure to sound the alarm if the 
poultry yard is invaded by hawks or other 
intruders. 
Although domesticated so long ago, 
they are still very wild and insist on mak- 
ing their nests in secret places. Nor do 
they like to have eggs taken from it, and 
they are apt to desert the nest if a hand has touched it. Guinea hens lay 
a good number of eggs that are about two thirds as large as an ordinary 
hen’s egg and are more suitable for use in cooking than for the table. 
The meat is very wholesome and palatable, and the broilers are considered 
most excellent eating. 
Guinea fowls thrive on the same food as chickens and generally eat 
with them. But they are great foragers, and if there are plenty of insects 
and seeds to be found, they will almost support themselves during the 
entire summer. 
