728 Michael F. Guyer 
red game shows much resemblance. ‘The reasons most frequently 
advanced for believing this are the fertility of the red jungle fowl 
and common fowl when crossed and the well established fact that 
the descendants of domestic fowls which have been running wild 
for a number of generations in certain islands of the Malay Archi- 
pelago have reverted approximately to this wild type. Further- 
more, similar reversions may be effected by sufficiently mon- 
grelizing different breeds of chickens. 
The cock of Gallus ferrugineus has a naked red face and throat, 
wattles, a well-developed, serrated, red comb, and whitish ear- 
lappets. The feathers of the crown, upper back, upper wings and 
rump are orange red, the remainder of the back mainly purplish 
-red. ‘The tail, wings and under parts are glossy greenish-black. 
The outer margins of the primaries are yellowish, and of the sec- 
ondaries brownish. ‘The hackles and long tail plumes are replaced 
by shorter black feathers during the summer. 
On the hen, wattles, spurs and elongated retrices are lacking, 
and the comb is but feebly developed. ‘The feathers of the crown 
are reddish, and of the upper back and wings, yellowish striped 
with black. ‘The remaining plumage is mostly of some shade of 
reddish or yellowish brown mottled with black. The reddish 
hue of the brown is particularly in evidence on the breast and fore- 
neck. ‘The shafts of the feathers are of light color and on the 
breast especially give much the effect of light-colored stripes. 
From this description it will be seen that reddish-brown or 
reddish-brown mottled with black is a color much in evidence in 
the plumage of Gallus ferruginevs. It will also be recalled that 
there was a considerable outcropping of the same color in the 
guinea-chicken hybrids. ‘There is, therefore, apparently a return 
in certain feathers of the hybrids to the primitive ancestral color 
of Gallus. The return to this same color is of frequent occurrence 
in the plumage of other hybrids where the domestic chicken is 
involved. ‘Thus, in a peafowl-chicken hybrid (Museum d’histoire 
naturelle, Paris) it is the prevailing color although there are also 
a number of white or partially white feathers present. The recur- 
rence of this color may also be seen in several pheasant-chicken- 
hybrids which I have examined. It is of very freqeunt occurrence, 
