174 INDIAN SPORTING BIRDS 



Grey Jui\glc-fowl. 



Gallus sonnerati. Ran-komhadi, Mahratta. 



The grey jungle-fowl, which takes in the south of India 

 the place occupied by the red species in the north, is so dis- 

 tinct from this that a single feather would in many cases 

 identify it. The cock is grey, the feathers both above and 

 below being narrow, pointed, and with white shafts. The neck- 

 feathers have bright yellow tips, and there is a- patch of orange 

 on the wing, these yellow or orange tips being solid, not split 

 up into barbs hke the rest of the feathers. In some individuals 

 the tips of the neck-feathers are white instead of yellow. 



Those interested in fly-fishing probably already know this 

 jungle-cock's hackle by sight, as it is one of the standard 

 feathers for fly-dressing. After breeding they are replaced for 

 a time by an undress collar of sooty black, and in young cocks 

 this black neck is the first sign of masculine plumage to appear, 

 so that in a flock they may easily be known from hens, whose 

 necks are yellowish, though not so bright as the distinct yellow 

 and black seen in the neck of the red jungle-ben. 



In her upper plumage generally, however, the grey jungle- 

 hen is much like the red, being of a similar brown, but 

 underneath she is very different — pure white, regularly edged 

 on each feather with black. To those who know tame poultry 

 she may well be called to mind as a bird with a Brown Leghorn 

 hen's plumage above, and a Silver Wyandotte's below. Cocks 

 have red legs, and hens and young birds yellow. 



In weight this species averages a few ounces more than the 

 last, and it is more strongly built, but it seems to be far 

 more timid and less plucky in disposition, although now and 

 then found fighting furiously. So wary is it, and such a runner, 

 that it affords but little sport unless it can be driven when work- 

 ing the smaller sholas in the Nilgiris, where it is a well-known 

 bird — in fact, it is common all through the hill ranges of 

 Southern India, and ranges occasionally as high as seven 

 thousand feet. It likes thin rather than thick jungle, and is 

 especially attracted when bamboo or the strobilanthes under- 



