THE COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO 163 



true home of gallinaceous birds, the murghi is a very 

 degenerate creature. Natives do not understand the 

 art of breeding, as their miserably undersized cattle, 

 horses, and donkeys, and their mongrel pigeons, demon- 

 strate. Indian poultry, however, are worse than under- 

 sized ; they exhibit a strong leaning towards pachy- 

 dermism — a fatal creed for a table bird. This the 

 traveller is able to verify for himself at any ddk 

 bungalow, for murghi will inevitably appear on the 

 table, and the would-be diner, after many ineffectual 

 attempts to get his degenerate teeth into the bird 

 sacrificed to him, is obliged to console himself for his 

 unsatisfied appetite by singing gently : — 



" That bird must have crowed when they built 



the Tower of Babel, 

 'Twas fed by Cain and Abel, 

 And lived in Noah's stable, 

 All the shots that were fired on the field 



of Waterloo 

 Couldn't penetrate or dislocate 

 That elongated, armour-plated, 

 Double-breasted, iron-chested. 

 Cock-a-doodle-doo." 



All the various breeds of poultry were at one time 

 supposed to be descended from the common Indian 

 jungle fowl. It is now, however, thought that Cochins 

 and Brahmas have possibly arisen from other an- 

 cestors. 



The Scrapers are a dimorphic family of birds — the 

 sexes differ in appearance. The males are more showy 

 and larger than the females. This is supposed to be 

 due to sexual selection, that is to say, the preference of 



