MELEAGRlNJi. 
Numida  Linn* 
Bill  moderate ; the  sides  compressed,  and  the  culmen  arched  to  the  tip,  which  hangs  over  that  of  the 
lower  mandible,  and  the  lateral  margins  smooth  and  curved ; the  nostrils  large,  oval,  and  partly  covered 
by  a membrane.  Wings  moderate,  with  the  first  four  quills  graduated,  and  shorter  than  the  fifth,  which 
is  the  longest.  Tail  short  and  pendent.  Tarsi  longer  than  the  middle  toe,  covered  in  front  with  broad 
divided  scales.  Toes  moderate,  the  anterior  ones  united  by  a membrane  at  their  base,  the  inner  toe 
shorter  than  the  outer,  and  the  hind  toe  rather  short  and  elevated : the  claws  short  and  very  slightly 
curved. 
The  birds  that  compose  this  genus  are  peculiar  to  the  continent  of  Africa,  where  they  frequent  the  w'oods  that 
border  the  rivers,  in  large  flocks  of  two  or  three  hundred  individuals,  scattering  themselves  in  search  of  their  food,  which 
consists  of  small  grains,  grasshoppers,  ants,  and  other  kinds  of  insects.  When  alarmed,  they  usually  seek  to  escape  by 
quick  running,  ratber  than  by  flight.  The  eggs  are  numerous,  and  are  deposited  in  a slightly  formed  nest,  which  is 
usually  concealed  in  a thicket  or  bush. 
1.  N.  meleagris  Linn.  PI.  enl.  108 Numida  galeata  Pall.  ; N. 
Rendallii  Ogilby ; N.  maculipeunis  Swains. 
2.  N.  mitrata  Pall.  Spic.  Zool.  iv.  t.  3.  f.  1. 
3.  N.  ptilorhyncha  Licht.  Less.  Ornith.  p.  498. 
4.  IS.  vuUurina  Hardw.  Proc.  Z.  S.  1834.  52.,  Gould,  leones, 
pi Type  of  Acryllium  G.  R.  Gray  (1840). 
5.  N.  cristata  Pall.  Spicil.  Zool.  t.  2.,  Gal.  des  Ois.  t.  209.  — 
Type  of  Guttera  Wagl.  (1832). 
* Established  by  Linnseus  in  1766  {Systema  Natvree).  It  includes  Guttera  of  Wagler  (1832),  and  AcruUivm  proposed  by  me 
(1840). 
November,  1845. 
3 s 
