322 BIRDS OF BRITISH BURMAH. 



Genus GALLUS, Briss. 



678. GALLUS FERRUGINEUS. 

 THE COMMON JUNGLE-FOWL. 



Tetrao ferruginous, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 761. Gallus ferrugineus, Jet-d. B. 2nd. 

 ii. p. 236 ; Elliot, Mon. Phas. ii. pi. 32 ; Hume, Nests and Eggs, p. 528 ; id. 8. F. 

 iii. p. 171 ; Bl B. Bunn. p. 148 ; Armstrong, S. F. iv. p. 338 ; Oates, S. F. v. 

 p. 164 ; David et Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 420 ; Anders. Yunnan JExped. p. 669 ; 

 WardlaiO Ramsay, Ibis, 1877, p. 468 j Hume fy Dav. S. F. vi. p. 442 ; Hume, 

 S. F. viii. p. Ill ; Hume fy Marsh. Game Birds, i. p. 217, pi. ; Bingham, S. F. 

 x. p. 195 ; Oates, S. F. x. p. 236 ; Kelham, Ibis, 1882, p. 1. 



Description. Male. Head and neck rich golden, turning to yellow on the 

 longer hackles which cover the back ; back, lesser wing-coverts and lower 

 plumage black; median coverts glistening maroon-chestnut; greater coverts 

 glossy bluish black ; primaries brown ; secondaries brown, broadly edged 

 with chestnut ; tertiaries black ; a band across the lower back connecting 

 the median coverts rich maroon -chestnut, followed by a broad band of rich 

 purplish brown ; lower rump and upper tail-coverts rich golden ; tail 

 black, more or less glossed with green. 



The female has the crown rufous, the shafts darker; the hackles of the 

 neck dark brown edged with yellow ; the upper plumage and wing- coverts 

 yellowish brown mottled with black, and the shafts yellowish ; primaries 

 dark brown ; secondaries dark brown, the outer webs mottled with yellowish 

 brown ; tertiaries with both webs mottled ; tail dark brown, the outer webs 

 mottled with yellowish brown ; lower plumage reddish brown with paler 

 shaft-streaks, and most of the feathers stippled with blackish. 



Legs purpurescent brown ; claws dark bluish horn ; comb, wattles, eye- 

 lids and the bare skin of the head dull red ; iris orange-red ; bill dark brown, 

 reddish towards the base, and paler at the tip of lower mandible. 



Male : length 28 inches, tail 14, wing 9, tarsus 31, bill from gape 1-2. 

 Female : length 18 inches, tail 6, wing 7, tarsus 2'5, bill from gape 1. 



The Common Jungle-fowl/is universally distributed over the Province, 

 alike in the hills and plains, and is everywhere abundant; and it is met with 

 in Karennee. 



It occurs in the Indo-Burmese countries and a great part of the Indian 

 peninsula, and it is found in Siam and Cochin China. To the south it 

 ranges down the Malay peninsula to Sumatra. In a modified form, 

 whether wild or semi-domesticated, it has been recorded from numerous 

 islands of the archipelago, and even from some in the Pacific Ocean. 



There is no description of jungle from which this common bird is absent ; 

 but if it has a predilection for any particular style of country, it is for 



