The guinea fowl is an African grouse well known in domestication. Also called guinea hen and pintado. The common species has an exceedingly plump, high-arched body as large as that of a hen. Its plumage is slate-colored and is covered with round white spots. It has large wattles and a naked head surmounted by a calloused crest. It is still common in many parts of Africa, feeding in flocks. The Romans prized the flesh and eggs of the guinea fowl and gave it a name embodying the pretty notion that its spots represented the tears of sisters shed for the death of an only brother. Many American housewives have kept a few of these birds about the barnyard from a notion that their harsh screech frightens the chicken hawk away. The tyrannical disposition of the male is a source of so much disturbance that the guinea fowl is not a favorite with poultry raisers. The scarcity of genuine game birds, however, has led in city restaurants to the substitution of guinea fowl for them.
