Meleagrids

In Greek mythology, the Meleagrids were the daughters of Althaea and Oeneus, sisters of Meleager. When their brother died, they cried incessantly until Artemis changed them into guineafowl and transferred them to the island of Leros. According to an alternate version cited in the dictionary of Suda, the Meleagrids were companions of Iocallis, a maiden of Leros who was honored as a deity. Guinea fowl were kept in the shrine of The Maiden (likely Artemis) on Leros, and the inhabitants of the island, as well as other worshippers of Artemis, abstained from eating the bird.