rilAM \NID.K 



PHASIANID.. 



while, and the ouUide one* bUck with green reflection*. 

 Lin and bet vermilion, (paired. 



Female. Length about SO inchr*. Plumage almost entirely rich 

 cinnamon-brown ; feather* of the upper part* (lightly mottled with 

 bUck ; throat white ; lower parU of a paler tint than those above, 

 and baring the feather* bordered with white. Elongated head feather* 

 capable of bring erected into a ert, but not equal to that of the 

 male. Tail folded. Lag* spurfe**. 



Hi., native of Sumatra. ('Atlas' to Stauntou's 'Account of 

 Lord Macartney'* Embaesy to China.') 



Oalltu (Briaaon). Dill moderate, strong, convex above, curved 

 toward* the point, naked at the base, and furnished with two pendant 

 and compressed caruncle* or wattle*. Head surmounted with a fleshy 

 erect or comb. Tarsi (in the male) furnished with a long and recurved 

 pur; the hind toe only resting on the ground at its tip. Wings 

 short and graduated. The 14 tail-feather* forming two vertical planes 

 with the back* of the feather* toward* each other, nud so making 

 what may be called a folded tail ; the middle feathers longest and 

 recurved. 



The ancestor* from which our domestic poultry have descended 

 were undoubtedly native* of Asia ; but some doubt still hangs over 

 the queotions of the precise breed from which they came, and the 

 exact locality where they were found. That fowls were domesticated 

 at a very early period there is no doubt, and both historians and poets 

 (peak of the high antiquity of the race. Thus Peisthettcrus relates 

 why the cock is called npffi*&i tma (the Persian Bird), and how it 

 u<Vii<xl over that country before Darius and Megabazu*. (Aristoph., 



Bird*,' 483 et *eq.) 



To the forest* and jungles of India we must look for the race in a 

 (tate of nature ; and though the denizens of our farm-yards may be 

 the result of a mixture of many of the specie* which there inhabit, 

 xoologiitt in general agree with M. Temminck in thinking that to the 

 Malay Gigantic Cock or Fowl (Galliu giganteiu, Temm.), and the 

 Bankiva Cock (tt JSanliro, Temm.), we are chiefly if not entirely 

 indebted for our common poultry. 



The Domestic Cock and Hen are the 'AXfxrpvay and 'AAtKTopfi of 

 the Greek* ; Oallu* and Gallina of the Roman* ; Qallo and Gallina of 

 the Italian* ; Hsu* Hahn and Haua Henne of the Germans ; and Coq 

 (Gau, Oeau, Gal, Gog), Gelline, and Poule, of the French. 



Bold, ardent, and vigilant, the cock has been always considered the 

 emblem of watchful courage, whilst the hen hag been considered a 

 pattern of maternal solicitude. In this and other polygamous species, 

 the object to be attained is the effective impregnation of the greatest 

 numbers of female* by the most vigorous male. In the cock accord- 

 ingly the spurs are developed as the sexual organs are matured ; nnd 

 it Is principally with theae weapons of combat that the battle which 

 it to leave the field in the possession of the strongest is decided. The 

 oooquerur in his turn, a* the weakness of age comes upon him, yields 

 to a younger and more powerful rival ; and thus a numerous, healthy, 

 mod (tout progeny is secured. 



How the Domestic Cock and Hen were introduced into Greece and 

 the *outh of Europe is not known : upon such occasions of doubt the 

 Phoenicians are usually resorted to; but we aro ignorant of proof 

 which can bring home the benefaction to them more than other*. 

 We And it early on the Greek and lioman coinage, and upon gems ; 

 and it figured in the public show* of those nation*. It was dedicated 

 to Apollo, to Mercury, to .<Eculapius, and to Man. Socratts, in his 

 dying moment*, reminded his disciples that he "owed a cock to 

 ^Eondapiu*." The Rbodian fowls (Martial, iii. 58, above quoted) and 

 those from the Isle of Delo* were celebrated for their superiority in 

 fight and their delicacy for the table. The luxurious Roman had his 

 hen* fid. perhaps crammed, with meal in the dark. Thus Martial 

 (xiii. 62, ' Gallina Altili*') : 



" Pudtur et dukl fucllU tillina firtns, 

 Pucltur et tenebrU : laienlou fuls e*t." 



Nor was the tame gastronomer ignorant of the value of the capon. 

 (Martial, xiii. 83 ) 



The bird appear* to have been in Britain before the invaiion of 

 Juliu* Cvair, who tell* u* that the Briton* abstained from tasting the 

 harr, the hen, and the goose; thon.-h they bred them for their 

 pUarore. Thi* abstinence neern* to have originated in superstitious 

 feeling : " Lcporem et gallinam et anaerem gvutare fa* non putant : 

 bate tamen alunt, animi voluptatisque causa." (' De Bello Gallico,' 

 lib. v.) The race i* now ppread all over the civilised world. 



M. UBOO ask* if it is not remarkable to find the Domestic Hen, ' 

 liftering id nothing from that of our countries, in all the island* of j 

 the Sooth 8*a, and among people with whom Europeans have certainly 

 never communicated 1 Cocks and hens, he tells us, were very common ' 

 at OuaUn for *mple, and the native* were Ignorant that these birds 

 were good to eat. They were found among the Papuan*, and among ' 



Uirs there was a white variety with all the feather* frizzled. 



O.gigtmltta, the Gigantic Cock, the Kulm Cock of European*, often ' 

 (-and* considerably more than two feet from the crown of the bead ' 

 to the ground. The comb extend* backward* in a line with the eye* ; j 

 It U thick, a little elevated, rounded upon the top, and has almost 

 the sppeaniio* of having been cut off. The wattles of the under 



mandible* are comparatively (mall, and the throat is bare. Pale 

 golden-reddish hackles ornament the head, neck, and upper part of 

 the back, and some of theae spring before the bare part of the throat. 

 Middle of the back and lesser wing-covert* deep chestnut, the webs of 

 the feather* disunited; pale reddish-yellow long drooping hackle* 

 cover the rump and base of the tail, which last is very ample and 

 entirely of a glossy green, of which colour are the wing-covert* ; the 

 secondaries and quills are pale reddish-yellow on their outer web*. 

 All the under parts deep glossy blackish-green with high reflections ; 

 the deep chestnut of tho base of the feather* appears occasionally, and 

 give* a mottled and interrupted appearance to those parts. (Jardine 

 principally.) 



Lieutenant-Colonel Sykes, in hi* Memoir on the Birds found in the 

 Dukhun (Deccan), states that it is only there met with as a domestic 

 bird, and that he ha* reason to believe that it is not a native of 

 India, b-t has been introduced by the Mussulmans from Sumatra or 

 Java. The iris, he says, of the real game bird should be whitish or 

 straw-yellow. The Colonel landed two cocks and a hen in England in 

 June, 1831 ; and they bore the winter well. The hen laid freely, and 

 in September, 18S2, had reared two broods of chickens. The cock 

 had not the shrill clear pipe of the domestic bird, and his scale of 

 notes appeared to be more limited. A cock in the Colonel's possession 

 stood 26 inches to the crown of the head, but they attain a greater 

 height The length from the tip of the bill to the insertion of the 

 tail, 23 inches. Hen one-third smaller than the male. (' ZooL Proc.,' 

 1882.) 



G. Sanliva, the Bankiva Cock, is the Coq et Poule Bankiva of 

 Temminck ; Ayain Utan, or Brooga (' Linn. Trans.,' xiii.) ; Javan Cock 

 of Latham ; and many Bantams resemble it very closely. 



The spice round the eyes and throat bare, comb much developed, 

 deeply lobated along the upper ridge, wattles of the lower mandible 

 rather large; long, clear, brilliant, golden-orange hackles cover the 

 head, sides of the neck, back, and rump. Upper part of the back 

 below the hackles bluish-Mack, the middle and lesser wing-coverts 

 rich de^p-chestnut, with the webs of the feathers disunited ; greater 

 covert* gteel-blue, secondaries the same, with a broad chestnut border ; 

 quills brownish-black, edged with pale reddish-yellow. Tail black, 

 richly glossed with green and blue. Under parts black. 



Bankiva Cock (Ga'ltu Dankira). 



Sir \V. Jardine states that he bos seen three or four specimens of 

 another bird very closely allied to O. Ilankira, but rather larger, and 

 certainly distinct : they were all from the continent of India. 



'>. (intut, tho Bronzed Cock, figured by M. Temminck from a 

 specimen cent from the interior of Sumatra by M. Diard. This is 

 somewhat larger than the Bankiva Cock, nnd its large comb is without 

 dentilations ; indeed the edge is quite unbroken ; the feathers of the 

 head, neck, and upper part of the back are rather elongated, but not 

 hackles. The Fork-Tailed Cock (G. /urco/iu, Temm. j G. Jrtranicns, 

 Horsf.) has the comb also entire, and the throat in adorned with a 

 Mngle large wattle springing from the centre. The head, neck, and 

 upper part of the back are covered with feathers, which are not 

 hackle*, shorter and more rounded than those in the Bronzed Cock. 



O. Sonneralii. This is the Coq Sauvage of Sonnerat ; Coq et Poule 

 de Sonnerat of Temminck ; >Sounerat'n Wild Cock of Latham ; llabn 



