WILD FOWL. 



THE BANKIVA JUNGLE HEN. 



The Bankiva hen is smaller than the cock ; 

 and her tail is also a little horizontal and vaulted ; 

 she has a small comb, and the wattles are very 

 short ; the space round the neck is naked as well 

 as the throat ; and on this space are some small 

 feathers, distinct from each other, through which 

 the red skin can be seen ; the breast and belly 

 are light bay, or fawn-yellow ; on each feather 

 is a small clear ray, along the side of the mid- 

 rib or stem ; the feathers of the base of the neck 

 are long, with disunited braids or plumelets, of 

 a black color in the middle, and fringed with 

 ochre-yellow ; the back, the coverts, the wings, 

 the rump, and the tail, are earthy gray, marked 

 with mimerous black zigzags ; the large feath- 

 ers of the wings are ashy-gray. 



The reasons for believing that the Bankiva 

 fowl is the wild stock from which our tame va- 

 rieties derive at least their main origin are, the 

 close resemblance of their females to our tame 

 hens, the nature of their feathers, and the forms 

 and distribution of the barbs, which are abso- 

 lutely the same in our tame cocks ; and because 

 it is in this species alone that the females are 

 provided with a comb and small wattles, char- 

 acters not found in any other of the wild species 

 which are known. 



A larger variety of the Jungle fowl, or per- 

 haps a distinct species, is found on the continent 

 of India, which closely resembles the black- 

 breasted game breed of England. It tenants 

 the jungles, and in some districts is very abund- 

 ant. The plumage of the cock is as follows : 

 The hackles of the neck and rump are long, and 

 of a fine rich orange-red ; the greater coverts 

 and secondaries deep blue ; the quills brownish- 

 black, edged with pale reddish-yellow; tail black, 

 with green and steel-blue reflections ; breast and 

 under parts black ; the comb, which is upright 

 and deeply indented, the marked space round the 

 eye, and the wattles, are scarlet. The feathers 

 of the neck are long, falling down, and rounded 

 at the tips, and are of the finest gold color. It 

 continues to reproduce, in the wild state, in the 

 forests of India, and is clearly distinct from the 

 domestic reared by the Hindoos ; as these re- 

 semble, in all respects, the other tame breeds 



of fowls in every quarter of the globe. M. Son- 

 nerat, however, thought very differently, and 

 prided himself much on the discovery of other 

 wild fowls in Timor and other Indian Islands. 

 The jungle fowl, in a word, seems to be as dif- 

 ferent from any known variety of our tame 

 fowls, as a hare is from a rabbit, or a goat from 

 a sheep, and the fact that a jungle fowl is not 

 domesticated in its native country of India, 

 while our barn-yard fowls are common there, 

 seems to settle this question beyond any ap- 

 peal. 



THE CEYLON JUNGLE FOWL. 



Some birds of extreme beauty and mo^t 

 unique appearance have been lately introduced 

 into England-, and are now in the possession 

 of Mr. Bissell, of Birmingham. " We," say the 

 authors of the "Poultry Book," "have to ex- 

 press our thanks to that gentleman for the full 

 description that he has favored us with, and 

 which we can not do better than place before 

 our readers in his own words. The term ' Jun- 

 gle' fowl, however, we should premise, would 

 appear apt to mislead us in respect of their hab- 

 its and character, since by that_expression we 

 are accustomed to denote the unreclaimed in- 

 habitants of the Oriental forests, whereas the 

 specimens in question appear to rival Shang- 

 hais themselves in their quiet and contented 

 demeanor. 



" ' The Ceylon fowls which I possess,' says 

 Mr. Bissell, ' were imported direct from the 

 island from which they take their name in the 

 early part of 1852, by a gentleman of Bristol, 

 and were exhibited by him at the show in that 

 city in the following December. They attracted 

 on this occasion considerable attention, and were 

 justly considered among the most beautiful spec- 

 imens that were then brought together. 



" ' Their general appearance has much of the 

 Shanghai character ; the points of excellence in 

 the latter being still more fully developed, al- 

 most, indeed, it might be said, to exaggeration, 

 size alone excepted, for the cock weighs but 

 four and a half pounds, and the hen is not quite 

 four pounds. 



"'They are exceedingly tame and docile in 

 their habits, and a three foot fence is at all times 



