DOMESTIC GALLING. 373 



birds are under domestication the more they seem subject to 

 variation. By judicious selection it is quite possible through a 

 long series of ages to have formed from a single type such 

 diverse forms as the Bantam on the one hand and the Dorking 

 on the other, or the tailless fowl of Holland and the long-tailed 

 fowl of Japan. 



The Turl-^y (Meleagris). — The ancestry of the turkey is 

 less complex, but still is a matter of uncertainty. There are 

 three wild turkeys — one common to Canada and the States, 

 the so-called American turkey, M. americana , another is found 

 in Mexico, M. mexicana ; and a third in Guatemala and 

 Central America generally, M. ocellaia. 



There is some doubt as to M. americana and M. mexicana being 

 distinct species, some authorities considering them varieties : 

 there is little difference except in colour, the Mexican species 

 having white tail-coverts and tips to the tail-feathers. If 

 they are distinct, there is little doubt but that our domestic 

 turkeys are derived from M. mexicana , for both have the white 

 in the tail, which is absent in the American turkey. 



The Honduras or Ocellated Turkey l^M. ocellata) is found in 

 Guatemala and Yucatan. It certainly has no connection with 

 our domestic forms, although hybrids of it have been known to 

 breed in domestication. 



The domestic turkey lays from fifteen to twenty eggs — gen- 

 erally sixteen is the number. They breed in the wild state 

 on the prairies surrounding the large American forests, the 

 hens leaving the " gobblers " during incubation. The latter are 

 most pugnacious to any young they come across. We notice 

 similar habits in our domestic breeds. 



The Guinea -foiol {Numida). — All wild guinea-fowls are 

 found in Africa or Madagascar. The following wild forms are 

 known ; — 



Numida meleagris, the West African Guinea-fowl, found on 

 the coast of Gambia. N. jptilorynclia, the Abyssinian Guinea- 

 fowl, found in Eastern Africa. N. mitrata, the mitred Guinea- 



