THE COMMERCIAL VALUE OF BIRDS. 13 



Directly or indirectly the Game Bird furnishes employ- 

 ment for a vast number of people. Beaters, watchers, 

 and gamekeepers profit directly ; gun-makers, shooting 

 agents, game dealers, ammunition manufacturers, and 

 game food purveyors indirectly from this spreading 

 industry. It is an important source of income to many 

 a struggling landed proprietor or country squire, who in 

 these times of agricultural depression makes his game 

 replace the deficiency of his rent-roll. Millions of 

 pounds are spent in this country alone every year in 

 connection with our feathered game, and the amount 

 is increasing. Of this sum many thousands of pounds 

 find their way into the National Exchequer in the form 

 of gun and game taxes, licences to deal in game, and 

 duties on servants, horses, etc. We have only alluded 

 to the worth of Game Birds in this country ; but else- 

 where they are equally as valuable, and represent a very 

 important amount of capital and food. 



Barndoor fowls naturally come next before our notice 

 as being the domesticated descendants of several species 

 of Game Birds. Their origin may with almost absolute 

 certainty be traced to India and the Malay Archipelago, 

 where poultry is known to have been kept from the very 

 earliest times. The Wild Cock of Malacca is probably 

 the origin of the large breeds of Fowls ; whilst the 

 plucky little Bantam's ancestor is a resident in the 

 jungles of Java. Our game cocks are the domesticated 



