A' ¡-ELAST1 : MELE. M D E Í
AGKLASTlvS MELEAGRIDES.
A Flil CAN AGELASTES.
AGELASTES MELEAGRIDES, Temm. in Mus^ E%(i —Bon. Proc. Zgol. 300.(1849)^. 145.—Sehleg. Handb. Vgp^g. 57.—Gray, Jasl Gall.
s (1867.) p. 45.—Sclat. Proc Zoof. Soc. (1863) pt 12^ —Bon. Compt.#Rend. (185C3 jm.876—Hartl. Orn. West Africa, p. 200.—Id, Cab.'
•fourfr. yol| iiFm 356;. *
H ab. W e s t Africa: Dabocroni ( P e l ) ; Gabooni(V E K R E A O x )^E lm i.p a (G ray) .
This v&y singular bird, apparently a link between the Guinea-fowl and the Pheasants; is a natire of Western Africa. It differs
from tíie species of t h ? gguus Numida in the possession of.a rather strong spur, which no Guinea-hen h a s ;,b u t it resembles: them in .
the-speckled plumage which .covers nearly the entire body. The white on |he upper part o f th e b%eá|t, together with the flesh-
feoloured head-and n e c k f render it very3“ conspicuo^ and strikingly, different from any of its allies—i f indeed, we may so_,term
any member'of the. Phasianidai *thu& far known to ornithologists. The species received the name it . now ,bears from Tern mjnck,-who
M M the specimens G H | Leyden Museum; and afe«ar<te- published b | Bonaparte jn- the ‘ Proceedings of the
Zoological Society-for 1849, p. 145, W a ¿footnote a t the 'bottom* of ílib .page.
It ¡ ¿ a very i r e bird, and but few museums possess a specimen in ’their collecting:;* Slid’,»as may'be expegted, vsí know nothing;
whatever of its economy,'or habits, H have* said that it is* doubtful if we can f a ll liny ^ emb-erfof the family to which this species
belongs, its aíly. There i£*Índeed, only one which «approaches it, ,the P/iasidus itiger of "Cassin, from the same locality, but which,
unlike the Agelastes Slbagrides, is destitute both of. spurs,.gnd %ons|iicubuj spec^JSl upon the feathers.
- Although Bonaparte was the firet “to£-publisha.Temminck’s ■ name o f' tlíi|sp e c ie s , «he gave no description; and» it was not until
1855, six' yá&rs after the Prince’s paper was is^ édlí^tha t Dsr. Hartlaub wrbte a detailed^description in" the ‘ Joiirpal fñr"
Ornithótó’gie? The. only figure ever given of this bird is a small uncoloured wood-cut in Dr. Schlegel’s * Handbook of Birds,’ but
which is totally inadequate for the ^ g b i t i o n of the species. *
The general c&louV is Alack, with^minute narrowt*zig-zag lines of white crossing the_ feathers. Head and neck bare, flesh-colour.
Primaries black. Lower .part of ngpk* all arojmd, and upper part o f the b re a^ white. Bill greefiish ; fo e t' browifP There does
not appear .to b e any difierence between the plumage oO]ip sexes.