PHASIANID^ NUMIDA 227 



long grass and reeds, breeds in the country and migrates as soon as 

 the young are old enough to travel. Mr. Crawshay designated it as 

 a bird of swift and strong flight, twisting on the wing like a common 

 Quail. 



Dr. Eeichenow found a nest in the Cameroons in West Africa in 

 November ; it was placed in a slight hollow in the ground, lined 

 with grass stalks and sheltered by a tussock ; the eggs, eight in 

 number, were light yellowish, blunt and not shiny ; they measured 

 about -80 X -70. 



Genus V. NUMIDA. 



Type. 



Numida, Linn., Syst. Nat., 12th. ed. i, p. 273 (1766) ... N. meleagris. 



Head and neck naked, except for a few strong bristles ; on the 

 crown of the head a bony elevation, cylindrical, conical or flattened 

 — the helmet ; a pair of fleshy wattles at the gape of the mouth; 

 wings very rounded, the primaries shorter than the secondaries, 

 the first primary shorter than the tenth, the fourth or fifth the 

 longest ; tail of sixteen feathers somewhat rounded ; tarsi naked 

 and stout without spurs. Plumage black, spotted with white. 



This genus is confined to Africa and Madagascar ; Eeichenow 

 recognises ten species, of these two are found within our area, a 

 third just enters our limits. 



Key of the Species. 



A. BoDy helmet long, elevated, compressed and 



curved backwards ; height I'O to 1'5, length 

 along the base '9 ; no papillae between the 

 nostrils N. coronaia, p. 227. 



B. Bony helmet elevated, cylindrical and slightly 



curved backwards ; height 21, length along the 

 base '55 ; with papillse or warts between the 

 nostrils N. papillosa, p. 231. 



C. Bony helmet short, stout and conical ; height '8, 



length along the base -9 N. mitrata, p. 232. 



663. Numida^'coronata. Crowned Guinea-fowl. 



Numida meleagris (nee Linn.) Sparr7nan, Travels, 8vo ed. ii, p. 20 



(1785). 

 Numida coronata, Gray, List of B. iii, Gall. p. 29 (1844) ; Gurney, Ibis, 



1868, pp. 253, 468 [Natal] ; ElKot, Man. Phas. ii, pi. 40 (l870) ; 



Ayres, Ibis, 1877, p. 846, 1880, p. 265 ; Butler, Feilden and Reiih 



Zool. 1882, p. 338 ; Shelley, Ibis, 1882, p. 360 [Mashonaland] ; 



