THE GIGANTIC COCK. 171 



It is from these birds that we are indebted for the 

 domestic poultry of our farm-yards. Many native 

 species are at the present time known, and we con- 

 sider it very difficult to determine which is the di- 

 rect origin of our reclaimed fowls. They may have 

 reached their present state from a mixture of many, 

 but with Ternminck we are inclined to give the pre- 

 ference to two species, the Gallus giganteus and 

 Bankiva, both natives of Java, on account of the do- 

 mestic females bearing the greatest resemblance to 

 those in a wild state, by the similarity of the form 

 and structure of the feathers, and by the males of 

 those possessing the greatest development of como 

 and wattles. The first of these birds may be now 

 described : 



GIGANTIC COCK. 



Gallus giganteus, TEMMINCK. 



The description of M. Temminck is founded up- 

 on the notices which have been given by Dampier 

 and Marsden, the only portion of the bird which he 

 had seen being the leg and foot, of which he gives a 

 plate in his Natural History of Gallinaceous Birds. 

 There is a specimen in the Edinburgh Museum said 

 to be wild from Sumatra, of a large size, and to 

 which, in several particulars, the large breed of cocks 

 in this country bear considerable resemblance, par- 

 ticularly in the comb, which extends backwards in a 



