CHAPTER IV. 

 THE BREEDS OF POULTRY. 



THE breeds and varieties of poultry are so numerous and 

 represent so many mixed characteristics and features that it is 

 practically impossible to give a simple complete classification, 

 allowing each breed and variety its legitimate place. A practical 

 classification, in order to be of any definite value, must consider 

 economic features as well as external points of shape, size, and color. 



FIG. 37. Pair of jungle fowl (Gallus bankiva), one of the ancestors of the present 

 domestic breeds. The light, active breeds resemble this ancestor. (Photos of Figs. 37 and 

 38 by the Station of Experimental Evolution, Cold Spring Harbor, L. I.) . 



It is the purpose of this chapter to give a general discussion 

 of the breeds of poultry as we know them to-day, consider the 

 origin of the domestic breeds, and give a classification of them. 



Origin of the Domestic Fowl. The domestic fowl belongs to 

 a group of scratching birds which includes turkeys, guinea-fowls, 

 pheasants, partridges, and others. The progenitors of the domes- 

 tic hen of to-day were wild species, and it is probable that it 

 originated from the crosses or mingling of the blood of two quite 

 different species, the most important one being the wild fowl 

 common in the jungles of India and Southern China, which is 

 known as Gallus bankiva (Fig. 37). 



The jungle fowl is about one-third the size of the domesticated 

 one, having a flattened tail, single comb, and wattles resembling 



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