Veteres videntur eas agnovisse, et Varro[1] earum meminit his verbis. Gallina [338] Africana, vel Numidica varia est, quemadmodum quas Romani Gibberas appellant, quas interpretati sumus Gallos Indicos[2]: Columella[3], et Plinius[4] Numidicam dicunt. Omnium domesticarum, seu cicuratarum volucrum formosissimae sunt, quamvis alias nulla in pennis alia, quam nigri, et albi coloris sit diversitas: sed hi ita mixti sunt, ut albae maculae per nigra spatia sparsae elegantissime, ac ineffabiliter suos ordines servent.

The ancients seem to have known them, and Varro mentioned them with these words: The African or Numidian hen is spotted, like those the Romans call humped, which I have interpreted as Indian Cocks - the turkeys: Columella and Pliny call it Numidian. They are the most handsome of all domestic or tame birds, although on other hand regarding their feathers no other color is existing than black and white: but these colors are so mixed that the white spots scattered throughout the black spaces keep their tidy arrangement .most elegantly and ineffably.

Aves sunt quo ad mores cum villaticis Gallinis nostris similes: terram eodem modo pedibus vertunt. Tibiae pedes, atque ungues item similes, sed tibias habent longiores. Haec vero inter eas, et nostrates differentia est, quod cum tam Gallis nostris, quam Gallinis cauda sit surrecta, hae semper demissam habeant, ut Perdices, ac Coturnices: quare etiam quibusdam Perdices terrae novae vocitantur. Loco eodem manere nesciunt: in quaerendo sibi victu admodum solicitae ac industriae, qua in re nostrat<i>um etiam naturam sapiunt, unde huc illuc perpetuo {divagantur} <devagantur>.

As far as the behavior is concerned, they are birds similar to our courtyard hens: they turn up the earth with their feet in the same way. Likewise their legs, feet and toenails are similar, but they have longer legs. Between them and our hens there is the following difference, that is, while in our roosters and hens the tail is turned aloft, they have it always lowered like partridges and quails: because of this by some people are also called partridges of the New World. They do not know how to remain in the same place: they are extremely active and thoughtful in getting food, a thing in which are also reflecting the instinct of our hens, then continually wander hither and thither.

Nulla evidens nota est, qua marem a faemina distinguas. Utrique enim eadem maculae sunt, et albedo eadem circa oculos ac denique eadem supra eosdem rubedo. Crista carent, sed eius vice callositatem in vertice quandam habent coloris c{a}erei, qua parte camelopardalim referre ex primo intuitu videntur, qui scilicet dum currit, caput tenet erectum, et eundem fere cum iis colorum varietatem habet. Habent vero insuper peculiarem sibi, ac propriam quandam notam. Nam quemadmodum Galli Indici pilorum quendam acervum ante ventriculum, ita illae supra caput similem obtinent, sed qui in anteriori parte reflectuntur a prima vertebra, aut osse colli procedendo per posteriorem capitis partem.

There is no characteristic according to which you can distinguish male from female. For both have the same spots and the same whiteness around the eyes and finally the same redness above them. They lack a comb but in its place on the top of the head have like a wax-colored callosity and at first sight in this zone they seem to remember a giraffe, which, that is, when running, holds its head erect and has the same variegation of colors as these hens. In truth they have in addition a peculiar and specific characteristic. In fact, like the Galli Indici - turkeys - have a tuft of hair - the beard - in front of the crop, so they have a similar one on the head, but these hair are bent in front starting from the first vertebra, or bone of the neck, proceeding through the posterior part of the head.

Cum Pavonibus etiam hoc illis commune est, ut colli principium sit gracile. Plumae colli, maxime inferiores relucent, ut Palumbi torquis. Vox similis est gallinis communibus: nam clamant acriter voce alta, quemadmodum pulli recens exclusi. Perticis insident, ut nostrates: caro delicata est, ova esui apta.

They have in common with peacocks also what follows, that is, the beginning of the neck is slender. The feathers of the neck, above all the lower ones, gleam like the neck-ring of the wild pigeon. Their call is similar to that of common hens: for they shout aloud with a penetrating tone like recently hatched chicks. They roost on perches as our hens: the flesh is delicate, the eggs are suitable for eating.

Iam videmus, huius alitis cognitionem vulgo Guineam Gallinam vocanti acceptam ferre deberi. Nam si consideremus Africam, videbimus appellationem quadrare. Numidia enim, et Guinea Africae regiones sunt: {prior} <altera> in littoribus Oceani, {altera} <prior> maris mediterranei. Antiquissimi Romani Mare mediterraneum potius praeternavigabant, quam Gaditano egrederentur, nonnunquam tamen, sed rarius transfretabant. Contra Lusitani, et Normandi, aut alii maris mediterranei incolae Africae oras, quae Guineae sunt magis frequentant, quam fretum Gaditanum. Quapropter mirandum non est si eiusmodi Gallinae in Gallia, quam in Italia frequentiores reperiantur. Ad nos enim frequentius, quam in Italia naves ex his regionibus appellunt. Tales Gallinae apprime f{a}ecundae sunt, et in nutriendis pullis admodum sedulae, unde etiam facile multiplicantur, sed frequentiores evaderent, nisi frigus, utpote ex calidissima regione venientes, perhorrescerent.

We can undoubtedly realize that the knowledge of this bird is due to the people calling it Guinea hen. In fact if we consider Africa we will see that the name is exactly corresponding. For Numidia and Guinea are regions of Africa: the latter is on the shores of ocean, the first on the shores of Mediterranean Sea. Ancient Romans were coasting along the Mediterranean Sea rather than doubling the strait of Cadiz, however sometimes, but rather seldom, they were doubling the strait. On the contrary the Portuguese and the inhabitants of Normandy or other inhabitants of Mediterranean basin are more frequenting African coasts belonging to Guinea than the strait of Cadiz. Therefore it is not surprising that such hens are found in a greater number in France than in Italy. For the ships coming from these regions land more frequently among us than in Italy. Such hens are most fertile and particularly painstaking in raising their chicks, hence they also easily multiply, but they would be more numerous if didn't abhor the cold, since are coming from a very hot region.

Haec itaque omnia Bellonius: at non video quo argumento Gallinam Africanam aut Numidicam faciat. Varronis enim verba, quae adducit, ipse invertit. Varro enim Gibberas a Meleagride, aut Africana minime distinguit, sed ita habet[5]. Gallinae Africanae sunt grandes, variae, gibberae, quas {Meleagrides} <Meleagridas> appellant Graeci, etc. Plinius ita[6]: simili modo pugnant Meleagrides, Africae, hoc est Gallinarum genus, Gibberum, variis sparsum plumis. Varro in primis Gallinas Africanas grandes vocat. Guineae, vel ipso etiam Bellonio teste, villaticas magnitudine non vincerent, nisi tibias haberent longiores: quare meo iudicio grandes, Africanas Varro dixit, ut a Villaticis distingueret. Magnitudo itaque Gallo, Gallinisque Indicis, quos idem etiam Bellonius Meleagrides esse contendit, rectius conveniet. Sed super hac re alias fusius disputavimus.

Pierre Belon is therefore reporting all these things. But I don't see by what explanation he can judge what is the African or the Numidian hen. For he himself turns upside-down the words of Varro he is quoting. For Varro doesn't distinguish at all the gibbous hens from the meleagris or from the African one, but he is expressing himself in this way: African hens are large, multicolored, gibbous, which the Greeks call meleagrídas, etc. Pliny is expressing himself in this way: Meleagris birds fight alike in Boeotia. This is a genus of African hens, with gibbous head, covered by multicolored feathers. First of all Varro calls the African hens large. The hens of Guinea, on witness of Belon himself, in size would not be over the courtyard hens if they didn't have longer legs: hence in my opinion Varro called the African hens large in order to distinguish them from courtyard ones. Therefore the largeness of the body will be owed more rightly to Indian Rooster and Hens - the turkeys - which also Belon himself is claiming to be Meleagrians. But on this matter in another point I discussed in plenty.