88 
THE PINTADO. 
skin of a bluish colour; on the top is a callous protuberance 
of a conical form. At the base of the bill on each side 
hangs a loose wattle, red in the female and bluish in the 
male. The general colour of the plumage is a dark bluish 
gray, sprinkled with round white spots of different sizes, 
resembling pearls, from which circumstance the epithet of 
pearled has been applied to this bird; which, at first sight, 
appears as if it had been pelted by a strong shower of hail. 
These spots, which we find of a larger dimension upon some 
of the feathers of the pheasant, and bigger still on the tail 
of the peacock, are convincing proofs of a near relationship 
between these fowls. 
ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTE. 
M. Brue informs us, that when he was on the coast of 
Senegal, he received, as a present from an African princess, 
two Guinea fowls. Both these birds were so familiar that 
they would approach the table and eat out of his plate; 
and, when they had liberty to fly about upon the beach, 
they always returned to the ship when the dinner or supper 
bell rang. 
In a wild state it is asserted that the Pintado associates 
in numerous flocks. Dampier speaks of having seen betwixt 
two and three hundred of them together in the Cape de 
Yerd Islands. 
