Guinea-fowl

or PINTADO. (Zool.) The Numida Meleagris, fam. Phasianide,an African bird (Fig.369), now common in this country, and similar in its habits to our domestic poultry. Its color is a dark gray, beautifully variegated with small white spots. Its head is bare of feathers, and covered with a naked bluish skin; on the top is a cal-Fig. 369.-GUINEA-FOWL. lous conical protuberance, and on each side of the upper mandible, at the base, hangs a loose wattle, which, in the female, is red, and in the male bluish. It makes a harsh unpleasant cry. [s. 429]