WILD FOWL. 



8U 



woods and jungles, but possesses the same dis- 

 position of its co-genus and pheasants, and, upon 

 the least alarm, runs to cover. They are not 

 domestic, but they occasionally breed with the 

 tame varieties a curious fact, and showing the 

 uncertainty with which the true origin is clouded. 



That many of our present breeds of fowls may 

 have been derived from these four species, viz., 

 Sonnerafs Jungle fowl, Bankiva Jungle fowl, Fire- 

 backed Jungle Jowl, and Forked-tail fowl, we have 

 little doubt ; but still these are not necessary to 

 be regarded as the sole ancestors. The friz- 

 zled and tailless fowls, for instance, are both 

 said to exist in a wild state ; and the former es- 

 pecially is thus spoken of as inhabiting the in- 

 terior of Ceylon. Their origin can not be re- 

 ferred to a mere lusus naturce, and can hardly be 

 assigned to any of the birds before mentioned. 

 Should these, therefore, be thus distinct, why 

 should a separate origin be refused to other races. 



" In our experiments at the present day," say 

 the authors of the "Poultry Book," " when we 

 attempt either the domestication of the wild 

 Galli, or cross them with the occupants of our 

 poultry-yards, we find few instances where their 

 untamed character is so far subdued as has hap- 

 pened with Dr. Horner's Sonnerat hybrid. In 

 by far the majority of cases, not only in this 

 country, but even in India, there appears so de- 

 cided a repugnance to the redeemed state, that, 

 if these were indeed the sole source from which 

 the domestic fowl has been obtained, we are led 

 to inquire by what process that, to us most dif- 

 ficult feat, was ever accomplished. In two ways 

 may this have been effected ; the first of which 

 would rest on the supposition that, in times im- 

 mediately succeeding the earliest records of our 

 race, the birds that we now call jungle fowl were 

 less indisposed to minister to the wants of man- 

 kind in a state of domestication, or else that one 

 of their family, now no longer existing in a wild 

 state, became at once the willing companion of 

 man, and subservient to his will. A similar 

 theory has been employed with reference to the 

 camel, of which no naturalist has yet discovered 

 any trace in an unreclaimed state, and some 

 other members also of the animal kingdom seem 

 to have at least approached the same condition 

 of existence. 



"No positive conclusion, it is true, can be 

 based on such a line of reasoning ; but it surely 

 presents a path with fewer obstacles to our in- 

 quiries than the idea that the present economy 

 of any portion of the animal kingdom varied so 

 greatly at any time from what we now see to be 

 its regular course, as an adherence to the notion 

 that the natural habits of any beast of the field, 

 or fowl of the air, underwent so violent a change, 

 must necessarily imply." 



The recent impetus that has been given to 

 the study of poultry may throw fresh light on 

 this interesting subject, especially by introduc- 

 ing from their native abode the species of wild 

 foAvl to which we have alluded, or others that 

 may still remain undiscovered in unexplored 

 wilds, as yet untraversed by the foot of civilized 



man. 



THE FIRE-BACKED JUNGLE FOWL. 



This noble species, which is intermediate be- 

 tween the true jungle fowls and the pheasant, is 

 larger than the domestic game breed, and stands, 

 peculiarly high in its legs, which are strong, and 

 in the male armed with sharp spurs ; there are 

 no long hackle feathers on the neck; and the 

 head, adorned with a crest of naked shafted 

 feathers, expanded at their tips into slender 

 spreading barbs, is destitute of both comb and 

 wattles. The sides of the head from the base 

 of the beak to the occiput, are covered with n 

 naked purplish skin, encircling the eyes ; the 

 general plumage is black, shot with gleaming 

 steel-blue ; the lower part of the back is rich 

 orange-red or flame color, and the color extends 

 zone-like around the body ; but becomes obscure 

 on the abdomen ; tail coverts broad, of a rich 

 glossy bluish-green, with a paler bar at the tip : 

 the four middle tail feathers, and the two cen- 

 tral bending ones (which are really developed 

 tail coverts in the males of the forest tribe) arc 

 white, the rest black with green reflections. 



This fowl seems to be an intermediate form 

 or cross between the fire-backed pheasant of 

 Sumatra and common fowl. It is said to be a 

 splendid bird, and might perhaps be domestica- 

 ted. One of the remarkable characteristics of 

 this fire-backed cock is the total absence of both 

 hackle and saddle feathers; he is also nearly 



