VEILLOT'S P1HKBACIL MlopMait 



proportion to its size, and so fierce and determined a combatant that the native sportsmen, 

 who set great store upon fighting cocks, always prefer a Jungle Cock as their champion. 

 As in general appearance it is something Hke the domestic fowl, some persons have 

 supposed that it is the stock from which our poultry were derived. The Bankiva Fowl, 

 however, is thought with more reason to be the original progenitor of these useful birds. 

 The very peculiar formation of the hackles affords a good reason for believing that the 

 domestic fowl is not the offspring of Sonnerat's Jungle Fowl The webs of the hackles 

 and upper tail-coverts are dark grey, but their shafts are bright orange, dilating in the 

 centre and at the tip into flat, shining horny plates of a brilliant orange hue, which give 

 a peculiar splendour to the plumage, and are discernible at a considerable distance, their 

 tips being rounded instead of lancet-shape. 



The voice of this bird is rather startling, for at first sight it looks so like a game-cock, 

 that its crow strikes the ear in a very absurd manner. Every one knows the ludicrous 

 attempts made by a young cock to crow like his elders ; how he breaks down just when 

 he thinks he is doing best, like a young lad with a cracked voice, trying to talk with a 

 manly intonation, and going unexpectedly from hoarse bass to sharpest treble. Give the 

 young cock a sharp attack of whooping-cough, and that will afford a tolerably good notion 

 of the crowing of this Jungle Fowl 



The head of this bird is adorned with well-developed wattles, deeply notched at the 

 tip. The beautiful hackles have already been described, with their flattened ends shining 

 like the gold coins gleaming on the dark tresses of Oriental beauties. The back and 

 lower portions of the body are deep grey, and the tail is long, arched, and beautifully 



