WILD FOWL. 



81 



of the hackle, head, and upper part of back, 

 golden-reddish ; of the mid-back and lesser 

 wing-coverts, dark chestnut ; of rump, reddish- 

 yellow. Tail very full, and, like the large wing- 

 coverts, dark brilliant green ; breast and belly 

 glossy greenish-black ; legs yellow. There is 

 reason for believing that this bird is not only the 

 parent of our Malay variety but also of the 

 Shakebag. 



" The birds commonly spoken of as Jungle 

 fowl consist of two distinct species, inhabiting 

 different localities ; the Bengal Jungle fowl 

 (there seems to be some confusion among writ- 

 ers on East Indian ornithology with regard to 

 the bird thus designated. Sir William Jardine 

 considers the ' Bengal Jungle fowl' identical 

 with the 'Bankiva,' while Mr. Blyth and the 

 writer on poultry literature in the Quarterly 

 Review, by whom he is quoted, clearly refer to 

 them as distinct), found in the northern portion 

 of Hindostan, and as far north as the sub-Him- 

 alayan range, and the ' Sonnerat Jungle fowl, 

 which seems to be limited to the more northern 

 portion of the great Indian peninsula. 



" The ' Bengal Jungle fowl' resembles, in the 

 general color of his plumage, the black-breasted 

 Bed game-cock, while in size, he is intermedi- 

 ate between that fowl and the Bantam. The 

 tail in this, as we believe in nearly all the wild 

 fowl, is carried nearly horizontally, a peculiarity 

 which is only effaced by interbreeding for sev- 

 eral generations with the vertical-tailed domes- 

 tic fowl. It is also distinguished from all the 

 other wild species by having a white face or 

 cheek lappet, like the Spanish fowls. 



"In Europe, we see comparatively little to 

 recall the form, and still less that repeats the 

 habits of the Jungle fowls ; and the following 

 passage from the pen of Mr. Blyth, points dis- 

 tinctly to the same state of things in India, 

 where certainly we should most expect to wit- 

 ness at least some signs or tokens of transition 

 from the jungle to the yard : ' It is remarkable 

 that the domestic poultry of India do not ap- 

 proximate to the wild race in any respect more 

 closely than the common fowls of Europe ; and I 

 have sought in vain for traces of intermixture 

 of jungle-fowl blood in districts where the spe- 

 cies abound in a state of nature.' 

 F 



" Cross-bred birds between the Indian Jun- 

 gle fowl and the English Game fowl are by no 

 means uncommon. Mr. Thurnall has a high 

 opinion of them as regards both their courage 

 and appearance. The cock of the first cross, 

 he tells us, carries his tail about half-way be- 

 tween the game-cock and the pheasant ; but most 

 of his progeny carry theirs but a little lower than 

 the true-bred game fowls. 



"By the kindness of this gentleman we arc 

 now in possession of a pair of these birds. The 

 Bengal Jungle fowl is evidently the stock fron; 

 which they have been derived, though faint 

 traces only of his blood now remain. A son of 

 a Bengal bird from a black-breasted hen was 

 put with a brown-breasted hen, and these fowls 

 were some of the progeny. There is little in 

 the cock to distinguish him from a good red- 

 breasted bird. The head, however, is remark- 

 ably fine, and the intense maroon of his back 

 and saddle remind one, on a close inspection, 

 of the feathering of his wild grandfather. So 

 greatly, however, have both feather and form 

 merged into those of the game fowl, that these 

 traces are by no means evident at first sight, 

 though his descent is most fully authenticated. 



" Dr. Homer, of Hull, has most kindly com- 

 municated to us the following particulars of 

 some birds bred between the Game fowl and 

 Sonnerat's Jungle fowl, which we have already 

 referred to as inhabiting the southern portion of 

 the Indian peninsula : 



"The cock is three-fourths pure Sonnerat, 

 and as like the old Sonnerat cock as could as 

 well be, only failing in not having the saddle 

 feathers so perfectly laminated as the hackle. 

 This laminated appearance may be compared 

 to what is seen on the wing of the waxen-chat- 

 terer; on each feather there should be two la- 

 mina or scales ; these are produced by the flat- 

 tening of the shaft of the feather ; the hackles 

 have two such plates, other feathers but one, 

 though somewhat more prolonged than the for- 

 mer. The color of the plating is a rich golden 

 tint, somewhat sparkling and refulgent; some 

 of the larger hackles are rounded at the ex- 

 tremity. The tail, though carried less horizon- 

 tally than that of the pheasant, has the same 

 general character. Its color is iridescent black ; 



