BED JUNGLE-FOWL 171 



Red Jui\glc-fo>vl. 



Gallus ferrugineus. Jungli moorghi, Hindustani. 



" Just like a bantam " is the verdict generally passed on the 

 appearance of honest chanticleer in his wild state, whether the 

 observer be an Anglo-Indian shikari or a lady visiting the London 

 Zoo ; and the comparison is apt enough on the whole, for red jungle- 

 fowl, which are simply wild common fowls, have the red-and-black 

 colour in the cock and partridge-brown in the hen, so familiar in 

 many bantams, and are of noticeably small size compared with 

 most tame breeds. 



They are over bantam weight, however, cocks averaging about 

 two pounds and hens about half that ; and the tail, which is very 

 long in the cock, is carried trailing, not cocked up as in tame 

 fowls. This applies to all kinds of jungle-fowl, none of which 

 strut like the tame bird, and this familiar species has, at any 

 rate in Indian specimens, a particularly slinking gait. Burmese 

 birds have much more the appearance of tame poultry than the 

 Western ones, and are said to be easier to tame ; so, unless they 

 are domestic birds run wild, it is probably this particular sub- 

 species that was the ancestor of our farmyard fowls. 



To anyone who wants jungle-fowl alive, and wishes to make 

 sure of getting the absolutely real thing, however, I recommend 

 the Indian race, which is characterized by having the ear-lobe 

 (the little skinny flap below the ear) white, and the face flesh- 

 colour, contrasting with the scarlet comb and wattles ; the slate- 

 coloured legs are also peculiarly fine. Burmese birds have all the 

 bare skin of the head of the same red, and are certainly not so 

 scared-looking or wild in behaviour, while slightly coarser in form. 

 Of course wherever tame fowls are kept there is a great liability 

 to intermixture with their wild ancestors, so that ill-bred "jungle- 

 fowl " may be expected to turn up anywhere. The fowl also runs 

 wild very readily in the tropics, so that it is really uncertain what 

 its eastern limits are. It does not occur west of India, nor in 

 the south of India itself, neither does it ascend the hills for more 

 than 5,000 feet, and only goes to that level in summer. In the 

 foot-hills it is particularly common, and, generally speaking, 



