304 Mr. W. B. Tegetmeier on Modern 



allied. At the same time it is important to notice that it 

 does present certain points of resemblance to Strix. These 

 are not, however, in my opinion, sufficiently numerous or 

 important to lead to the conclusion that Photodilus occupies 

 a really intermediate position between the two families. The 

 structure of Photodilus does not necessitate either the crea- 

 tion of a separate family for its reception, or the amalga- 

 mation of the two generally recognized families into one. 



XXVII. — On the Principal Modern Breeds of the Domestic 

 Fowl. By W. B. Tegetmeier, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U. 



On the occasion of an exhibition of the various breeds of 

 poultry in the grounds of the Zoological Society of London in 



September last, the Editor of ' The Ibis ' did me the honour 

 to suggest that an illustrated article on the subject of the 

 modern varieties might be interesting to ornithologists, and 

 requested me to undertake its production. I had much 

 pleasure in acceding to his request. For many years I have 

 been interested in the subject, not only from an anatomical, 

 but also from a practical standpoint. My first introduction 

 to Darwin was by Yarrell, thirty-five years ago, on which 

 occasion the author of the ' Origin of Species/ which was 

 not then published, came to my house to inspect a large col- 

 lection of crania and other preparations illustrating the 

 extent of variation in the domesticated Gallus ferruyineus. 

 Engravings of several of these, and some figures of the heads 

 of fowls of distinct breeds, were given in Darwin's ' Variation, 

 of Animals and Plants/ and it will be interesting to trace 

 the extension of variation in the several breeds since the 

 publication of that work in 1868 to the present time. 



The breed which most closely resembles the wild Gallus 

 ferrugineus, from which Darwin thought all the domestic 

 varieties had descended, is (or, perhaps it would be more cor- 

 rect to say, was) the ordinary Game breed, one sub-variety 

 of which, known as the Black-breasted Red Game, from the 

 arrangement of colours in the male, differs from the wild 

 original chiefly in being of larger size and in the more 



