84 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



SONNEKAT'S JUNGLE HEN. 



to the subject of our present inquiries, the con- 

 nection between the wild and domestic galli, 

 that we now gladly lay it before our readers. 



" ' My Sonnerat cock,' says Dr. Horner, ' as I 

 have learned from Mr. Hunt, chief superintend- 

 ent of the aviaries at the Zoological Gardens, 

 Regent's Park, was bred at those gardens, be- 

 tween the true Sonnerat jungle fowl and a game 

 hen. In size he is decidedly less than the game 

 cock, weighing but three pounds, and differing 

 both in gait and carriage, as well as in shape, 

 from all other poultry. He is remarkably quick, 

 showing great activity and alertness in all his 

 movements. In his ordinary walk he is not so 

 upright as the game indeed, he has often some- 

 what of a stooping manner ; his wings are droop- 

 ing or carried low, which gives his back a rather 

 rounded appearance, and showing off to advant- 

 age its rich plumage ; the tail, also, is not car- 



ried so high as in other fowls. When at all ex- 

 cited his gait and attitudes are light, graceful, 

 and peculiarly alert. 



" ' The eye is particularly bright, sharp, and 

 watchful ; the wattles, and the comb, which is 

 serrated, are of moderate size; the whole side 

 of the head is red and smooth. The feathers 

 of the golden-colored hackles, of the neck, the 

 larger of which are round or blunt at the end, 

 and the fine, rich, dark-crimson feathers of the 

 shoulders or saddles, have their shafts or mid- 

 ribs dilated, in one or two parts, into horny- 

 like plates, as seen on the wing of the Waxen 

 or Bohemian Chatterer, and which are of an ex- 

 ceedingly rich deep golden-yellow ; giving to the 

 plumage a very refulgent and sparkling appear- 

 ance, especially when the sun shines thereon. 

 The feathers of the breast and back are more 

 pointed than in other poultry, and are of a 



