WILD FOWL. 



93 



believe has been the case with others of the "Jun- 

 gle fowl" properly so called. It appears to have 

 been reclaimed at the earliest period to which our 

 knowledge of its native country extends, and in 

 Europe, under the name of the " Malay fowl," 

 it shares the honors of a long pedigree with their 

 oldest races. We have never seen a specimen 

 of the wild bird, but all accounts unite in de- 

 scribing it as closely resembling the brilliant 

 combination of chestnut, maroon, black, and yel- 

 low, that decorate the well-knoAvn Malay. 



This noble bird, the Kulm fowl, frequently 

 occurs more than two feet in height, and Lieu- 

 tenant Sykes had one which was twenty-six 

 inches. The comb of the cock is single, but 

 slightly elevated, rounded at the top, and ap- 

 pears to terminate abruptly ; the wattles are 

 small, and the throat bare, as in the Guinea-fowl. 

 Plumage of the hackle, head, and upper part of 

 the back, golden-reddish; of the mid-back and 

 lesser wing coverts, dark chestnut ; of rump, red- 

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

 wing coverts, is a dark brilliant green ; breast 

 and belly glossy greenish-black ; legs yellow. 

 There is reason to believe that this fowl is the 

 parent of our Malay variety. 



The birds commonly spoken of as Jungle fowl 

 consist of two distinct species, inhabiting dif- 

 ferent localities ; the " Bengal Jungle fowl," 

 found in the northern portion of Hindostan, and 

 as far north as the sub-Himalayan range, and 

 the " Sonnerat Jungle fowl," which seems to be 

 limited to the more southern portion of the great 

 Indian peninsula. 



The Bengal Jungle fowl resembles in the gen- 

 eral color of his plumage the black-breasted red 

 game-cock, while in size he is intermediate be- 

 tween the fowl and the bantam. The tail in 

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

 is carried horizontally, like the Australian jun- 

 gle fowl, a peculiarity which is only effaced by 

 interbreeding for several generations with the 

 vertical-tailed domestic fowl. It is also distin- 

 guished from all other wild species by having 

 a white face or cheek lappet, like the Spanish 

 fowl. 



Sonnerat's jungle cock is distinguished by 

 the singular flattening out of the shaft or mid- 

 rib of the hackle and saddle feathers ; a lamin- 

 ated appearance is thus obtained of extreme 

 richness, these plates being of a bright golden- 

 yellow. 



