THE GUINEA FOWL. 
477 
part of the back they are bronze-green banded with black and gold ; and towards the tail the 
green assnmes a flashing emerald hue, and the gold band becomes wider and darker with fiery- 
red, like the throat of the ruby-tbroated humming-bird. The tail-coverts are furnished with 
bold “eyes” at their tips, and the lower parts of the body are also bronze-green and black, 
but without the lustre of the upper parts. The primary feathers of the wings are black edged 
with white, and the secondaries have the outer webs wholly white. The greater coverts are 
rich chestnut, and the legs and feet are lake. In size this bird is rather smaller than the 
common Turkey. 
The Mexican or Honduras Turkey is a variety of the Western Wild Turkey, differing in 
the coloration and strength of metallic gloss. In this bird the black, sub-terminal zone of the 
tail has a more or less distinct metallic bronzing. The tips of the upper tail-coverts have a 
pale ochraceous, instead of pure white. 
This variety is the one from which our domestic Turkey originated, and not the one found 
in the eastern parts of the United States. 
Professor Baird says of the history of this bird as a domestic one: “So involved in 
obscurity is the early history of the Turkey, and so ignorant do the writers of the sixteenth 
century appear to have been about it, that they have regarded it as a bird known to the ancients 
by the name meleagris (really the Guinea Fowl, or Pintado), a mistake which was not cleared 
up till the middle of the eighteenth century. The appellation of Turkey which this bird bears 
in England arose from the supposition that the bird came originally from the country of that 
name, — an idea entirely erroneous, as it owes its origin to the New World. Mexico was first 
discovered by Grigalva in 1518. Oveido speaks of the Turkey as a kind of Peacock abounding 
in New Spain, which had already, in 1526, been transported in a domestic state to the West 
India Islands and the Spanish Main, where it was kept by the Christian colonists. It is reported 
to have been introduced into England in 1541. In 1573 it had become the Christmas fare of 
the farmer.” 
It is stated that zoological gardens were kept in Mexico at the time of the Conquest, and 
that then wild Turkeys were fed out to the animals, so abundant were they. It is thought 
that these birds were then domesticated, and had been, perhaps, a long time previously, and 
that they were introduced into Europe about the first of the sixteenth century. 
The prettily spotted Guinea Fowl, or Pintado, is, although now domesticated in foreign 
countries, a native of Africa, and with some exceptions, has much of the habits and propen- 
sities of the turkey, which bird it evidently represents. 
Like the turkey, it is a confirmed wanderer, travelling continually during the day, and perch- 
ing on the branches to roost at night. It differs from the turkey, however, in its choice of local- 
ity, for whereas the turkey always keeps itself to the driest spots, shunning the low-lying lands 
as fatal to its young, the Guinea Fowl has a special liking for the marshes, and may generally 
be found among the most humid spots or upon the banks of rivers. It is a gregarious bird, 
assembling in large bands, which traverse the country in company. The flight of the Pintado 
is seldom extended to any great distance, as the body is heavy in proportion to the power of 
wing, and the bird is forced to take short and hasty flights, with much flapping of the wings, 
and to trust mostly to its legs for locomotion. On the ground the Guinea Fowl is a very swift 
bird, as is well known to those who have tried to catch it in an open field. 
Both in the wild and the captive state the Guinea Fowl is wary and suspicious, and par- 
ticularly careful not to betray the position of its nest, thus often giving great trouble to the 
farmer. Sometimes when the breeding season approaches, the female Pintado will hide her- 
self and nest so effectually that the only indication of her proceedings is her subsequent 
appearance with a brood of young around her. The number of eggs is rather large, being 
seldom below ten, and often double that number. Their color is yellowish-red, covered with 
very little dark spots, and their size is less than that of the common fowl. Their shells are 
extremely hard and thick, and when boiled for the table require some little exertion to open 
properly. 
Every one knows the curious, almost articulate cry of the Guinea Fowl, its “Come-back ! 
