248 FOWLS. Chap. VII. 



Hiitton, well known for his researches into the natural history cf 

 India, informs me that he has seen several crossed fowls from tl(e 

 wild species and the Chinese bantam ; these crossed fowls bred fndy 

 with bantams, but unfortunately were not crossed inUr se. Captain 

 Hutton reared chickens from the eggs of the GaUus hankiva ; aid 

 these, though at first "very wild, afterwards became so tame that th^y 

 would crowd round his feet. He did not succeed in rearing thto 

 to maturity ; but as he remarks, " no wild gallinaceous bird thri^es 

 well at first on hard grain." Mr. Blyth also found much dilficultyin 

 keeping G. bmkiva in confinement. In the Philippine Islands, 

 however, the natives must succeed better, as they keep wild cocss 

 to fight with their domestic game-birds.^^ Sir Walter Elliot inforns 

 me that the hen of a native domestic breed of Pegu is undistinguisi- 

 able from the hen of the wild G. hankiva ; and the natives constanty 

 catch wild cocks by taking tame cocks to fight with them in tie 

 woods.-' Mr. Crawfurd remarks that from etymology it might b 

 argiied that the fowl was first domesticated by the Malays anl 

 Javanese.'''^ It is also a ciirious fact, of which I have been assurec 

 by Mr. Blyth, that wild specimens of the Gulhts hankiva, brought 

 from the countries east of the Bay of Bengal, are far more easily 

 tamed than those of India ; nor is this an unparalleled fact, for, as 

 Humboldt long ago remarked, the same species sometimes evinces a 

 more tameable disposition in one country than in another. If we 

 suppose that the G. havkiva was first tamed in Malaya and afterwards 

 imported into India, we can imderstand an observation made to me 

 by Mr. Blyth, that the domestic fowls of India do not resemble the 

 wild G. hankiva of India more closely than do those of Europe. 



From tlie extremely close resemblance in colour, general 

 structure, and especially in voice, between Gallus hankiva and 

 the Game fowl ; from their fertility, as far as this has been 

 ascertained, when crossed ; from the possibility of the wild 

 species being tamed, and from its varying in the wild state, 

 we may confidently look at it as the parent of the most 

 typical of all the domestic breeds, namely, the Game fowl. 

 It is a significant fact, that almost all the naturalists in 

 India, namely Sir W. Elliot, Mr. S. N. AVard, Mr. Layard, 

 Mr. J. C. Jerdon, and Mr. Blyth,-^ who are familiar with, 

 6r. hankiva, believe that it is the parent of most or all our 



^^ Crawfurd, ' Desc. Diet, of Indian Journ. of Lit. and Science.' vol. sxii. 



Islands,' 1856, p. 112. p. 2, speaking of (?. tonX'a'i-a, says, " un- 



^' In Bunnah, as I hear from Mr. questionably the origin of most of the 



Blyth, the wild and tame poultry con- varieties of our common fowls." For 



stantly cross together, and irregular Mr. Blyth, see his excellent article in 



transitional forms may be seen. 'Gardener's Chron.,' 1851, p. 619; 



'■i Ibid. p. 113. and in ' Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist./ 



** Mr. Jerdoa, iu the ' Madras vol. xx., 1847, p. 388. 



