410 



The Living Animals of the World 



Photo by Kerry <i- Co.] 



WALLACE'S PAIKTED JIEGAPODE. 



{^yOiicy. 



This bird buiies its egccs in the sand, liurrowinf; for eacli a slanting liole from 

 3 to 4 feet deep. 



in the Hindu States it is not allowedt 

 to be killed under any circumstances- 

 There are two, some say three, distinct 

 species of peacock, but they all closely 

 resemble one another. 



Bi-ief mention will serve for the- 

 Guinea-fowls and Turkeys, since they 

 are well known to us all. GrUiNEA- 

 rowLS are African birds. The farm- 

 yard form, popularly known as " Come- 

 backs," from their peculiar cry 

 " come-back, come-back, come-back,"' 

 is a descendant of the common 

 helmeted form, of which type there 

 are eight distinct species. Besides 

 these are four crested species ; one- 

 very beautiful species known as the- 

 VuLTUEE-LiKE G iiiNEA-FOWL ; and one,, 

 the rarest of all, known as the Black 

 Guinea-fowl. Even in the British 

 Museuiu, writes ]\Ir. Ogilvie Grant, " there are only two examples of it, and neither of these- 

 are perfect specimens." It was discovered by JM. Du Chaillu. '• One day," he says, ■• I went 

 out hunting by myself, and, to my great joy, shot another new bird, a black wild-fowl, one 

 of the most singular birds I have seen in Africa. . The head, where it is bare, is in the 



female of a pink hue, and in tlie jnale of a bright scarlet. . . Wild they are, and most 

 ditScult to approach, and rare, e\'en in the forests where they are at home." They do not 

 travel in huge flocks, like other guinea-fowls, but a male and two females at most. 



The familiar form of the Tukkey scarcely needs description ; but most people are pirobably 

 puzzled by its name. Why Turkey? The bird is a native of America, so it certainly cannot 

 have anything to do with its place of origin. Professor Newton has it that it is on account 

 of its call-note, " to be syllabled ' turk, turk, turk,' whereby it may almost be said to have- 

 named itself" 



The domesticated turkey is descended from the Mexican Turkey, and was probably 

 introduced into Europe during the sixteenth century. This, according to Captain Bendire, is- 

 a mountain-living species, and still abundant in the wilder portions of Western Texas and 

 New JMexico. It appears to attain greater bulk than its domesticated descendant, Captain 

 Bendire having recorded a specimen shot by himself which weighed 28 lbs. after having been 

 drawn, and heavier birds are said to occur occasionally. 



The Mexicans say that the coyotes catch turkeys by running in circles under the tree- 

 in which they are roosting, till the birds get dizzy with watching them, and fall down into- 

 the open mouths below ! 



There are three distinct kinds of turkey — the IMexican, American, and Honduras 

 Turkey. The last is a very fine bird, with a bright liUie head and neck, instead of 

 red. Tlie top of the head is adorned with numerous scarlet, berry-like warts, looking like- 

 holly-berries. 



The BoB-wniTES, whicli belong to the group of tooth-billed game-birds known as American 

 Partridges and Quails, demand a brief reference here. The species represented in the illus- 

 tration on page 399 is common in the lowlands of Texas. It is a very imsuspicious bird, and 

 in consequence falls an easy prey to foxes, hariers, and rattlesnakes, the last-named being the- 

 worst enemies, as many as five of these unfortunate birds having been taken at one lime from 

 the stomach of one of these monsters, and on another occasion a female and half a dozen of 

 her eggs were similarly discovered. 



