342 THE BEGINNER IN POULTRY 



surface characteristics being nearly alike. The Pearl 

 Guinea plumage is of a shifting lavender-gray spotted 

 with pearls of white. The males are slightly larger 

 than the females ; the voice is more strident, and where 

 young are being led, the male's careful auxiliary pro- 

 tection of the female and her little ones distinguish 

 him. No ordinary effort which any person aiming to 

 control them can make will be successful, if the young 

 seem to be in peril. One may make unnumbered efforts 

 to head off the male from his family, but always he ap- 

 pears between his charges and the threatening peril, to 

 insure protection. Miller Purvis, in " Poultry Breeding," 

 states that the Guinea seldom weighs more than three 

 and one half pounds. In appearance they are more 

 than twice this size. The supposed cry of " Buck- 

 wheat " so common to the Guinea is credited to the 

 females only. 



Though seemingly half wild when hatched by the 

 Guinea female according to her own devices, the Guinea 

 chicks are very dependent on the companionship of 

 other fowls. With the Guinea mother they range 

 widely and roost at any available height in tree top or 

 on barn roof, but their love of companionship makes 

 mothering by the common hen a powerful training in 

 domesticated habits, as, even when weaned they may 

 sit by her if she sits on a later clutch of eggs, and range 

 with her and her baby brood when the latter are hatched. 

 This may not be so good for the health and vigor of the 

 Guineas, but it does make them far easier to handle. It 

 is better to let the hen range with them as soon as they 

 are strong, rather than to coop them closely. Night 

 care is a necessity in many localities, but freedom is al- 



