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Genus NUMIDA, Linnaeus. 
The last form which we have to describe in this 
Family is the Guinea Fowl, as they are generally 
termed, constituting the genus Numida of Lin- 
naeus. It contains only three or four species, all na- 
tives of Africa, and some of them were known to the 
ancients. During the zenith of the Roman Empire 
they bore a high valuo at the public feasts, and with 
its decline were for a time lost to Europe, to which 
they were again most probably introduced by the early 
Spanish navigators. Their plumage is very ample, 
their form compact and huddled together, and more 
formed for abode on the ground than for flight. 
The bill is curved and strong. They are gregarious, 
and roost on trees. We have figured as example^ 
