212 GUINEA HEN, &c. Ciafs IL 



and that in their wild condition their plumage is black 

 and yellow, and their combs and wattles purple and 

 yellow *. They were early introduced into the 

 weftern parts of the world; and have been very long 

 naturalized in this country : Cafar informing us, 

 they were one of the forbidden foods of the eld 

 Britaim. 



Pheafants were fiffl: brought mto Europe from the 

 banks of the Pha/is^ a river of Colchis. 



Argiva primum fum tranfportata carina 

 Ante mihi notiim nil, nifi Phafis erat. 



Martial, lib, xiii. ep. 72. 



Guinea hens^ the Meleagrides or Gallina numidic^ of 

 the antients, came originally from Jfrica f . We 

 are much furprized how Belon and other learned 

 ornithologifts could pofGbly imagine them to have 

 been the fame with our 'Turkies i fince the defcriptions 

 of the meleagri left us by Athenaus and other antient 

 writers, agree fo exadly with tht Guinea hen, as to 

 take away (as we fhould imagine) all power of mif- 

 take. Athenaus (after Clytus Mikfius^ a difciple of 

 Arijiotle) defcribes their nature, form and colors i 

 he tells us, " They want natural afFedion towards 

 ** their young i that their head is naked, and that 

 " on the top of it is a hard round body like a peg 

 ** or nail i that from the cheeks hangs a red piece of 

 " flefh like a beard -, that it has no wattles like the 

 « common poultry ; that the feathers are black fpot- 



» For this information we are indebted to governor Loten. 



+ Bo/matt hijlory of Guinea, 248. Vej/a^es de Marchais iif. 



323* 



ted 



