THE JUNGLE-FOWL. 49 



by short black feathers. A second moult takes place in Sep- 

 tember, and the short feathers of the neck are again replaced 

 by hackles and the long tail-feathers reappear. Total length, 

 29 inches ; wing, 9*5; tail, 14; tarsus, 3-1. 



Adult Female. — Top of the head rust-red shading into orange 

 on the neck and pale yellow on the mantle, each feather with 

 a black stripe down the middle ; rest of upper-parts reddish- 

 browh finely mottled with black ; secondary quills mottled 

 with pale reddish-brown towards the edges of the outer webs ; 

 fore-neck chestnut ; rest of under-parts pale light red, browner 

 on the belly and flanks. Total length, 16-5 inches ; wing, 7*5 ; 

 t^i^) 5 '5 '} tarsus, 2-4. 



Range — The jungles of North-eastern and parts of Central 

 India, extending south through the Malay Peninsula to 

 Sumatra and east through Siam to Cochin China. It is also 

 met with in a wild state in Java, Lombock, Celebes, Palawan, 

 the Philippines, Hainan, and other islands, but it seems more 

 than probable that it has been imported at some time or other 

 to all these islands, and that they do not form part of its natural 

 range. It is well known that domestic fowls allowed to escape 

 and run wild in surroundings similar to their original habitat 

 soon revert to the wild type, and become indistinguishable 

 from typical examples of the Indian Red Jungle-Fowl. 



All the domestic breeds of poultry are said to have been 

 originally derived from the Red Jungle-Fowl. Some domestic 

 varieties are truly wonderful, not the least so being the Japanese 

 form, in which the hackles covering the tail of the males grow to 

 a length of many feet (as many as fifteen !). Two fine examples 

 of this variety are exhibited in the Central Hall of the Natural 

 History Museum, and are well worth seeing. Equally curious 

 are the black tailless fowls from Holland, ? pair of which are 

 shown in the same case. 



Habits. — Mr. A. O. Hume, in his "Game Birds of India," 

 writes : " The Red Jungle- Fowl is,, as the latter portion of its 



