GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. 237 



THE SONNERAT JUNGLE FOWL, OR KATAKOLL 

 The SoNNERAT Jungle Fowl, or Katakoli (Gallus Sonnerati), differs from all its congeners in 

 the construction of its neck-feathers, which are long, slender, and rounded at their extremities, where 

 the shaft spreads out in such a manner as to form a round horny disc ; it then again contracts, and 

 again expands into a second disc. The webs of these feathers are dark grey ; the shafts and lower discs 

 pure white, and those at the end bright reddish yellow ; the long slender feathers on the mantle are 

 brownish black with light spots, and those of the smaller wing-covers have a webless smooth shaft of 

 a glossy reddish brown ; the wing-feathers are grey, with light shafts and edges, those at the exterior 

 bordered and shafted with red and yellow. Some of the quills are dull grey, with light edges and 

 shafts, the rest black, with a greenish lustre ; the sickle-shaped feathers of the upper tail-covers gleam, 

 with dark green, those on the under side are blackish grey, such as cover the thighs having a reddish 

 or yellow tint at the centre and edges. The eye is light brownish yellow, the comb red, and the beak 

 yellowish grey. This species is twenty-four inches long ; the wing measures nine inches and a half, 

 and the tail about fifteen inches. The hen is almost of a uniform dark brown on the mantle, the 

 edges to the feathers being of so pale a tint as merely to give the effect of light shading ; the throat 

 and gullet are white, the rest of the under side light yellowish grey, bordered with black ; the primary 

 quills are dark brown ; the secondaries striped black and brown ; the tail-feathers blackish brown, 

 spotted and marked with a still deeper tint. 



The Sonnerat Jungle Fowl, or Grey Jungle Fowl, as it is also sometimes called, is found only 

 in Southern India, spreading on the eastern coast to a little north of the Godavery, in Central India 

 to the Pachmarii, and on the west to the Jajpeeple hills. It is found in great abundance on the 

 Malabar coast, especially in the most elevated portions, and ascends to the summit of the Neilgherry 

 Hills. It is also found in the Eastern Ghauts, and in various isolated ranges in different parts of 

 Southern India. 



" Like the Red Jungle Fowl," says Jerdon, " it affects bamboo jungles. Early in the morning, 

 throughout the Malabar coast, the bird may be found feeding on the roads ; and with dogs you are 

 certain of getting several shots, the birds perching at once on being put up by dogs. The hen lays 

 from February till May, generally producing from seven to ten eggs of a pinky cream-colour. These 

 are usually deposited under a bamboo clump. The call of the Cock is very peculiar, being a broken 

 and imperfect kind of crow, quite unlike that of the Red Jungle Fowl, and quite impossible to 

 describe. When they are taken from the jungles they are also very much wilder, and not so easily 

 domesticated as that species ; but cases are known in which tliey have bred in confinement with hens 

 of the common breed." 



The section Phasiamts of Brehm constitutes a numerous subdivision of the Pliasianida, generally 

 recognisable by the elongate body, short neck, and small head ; the short, much-rounded wing has the 

 fifth and sixth quills longer than the rest ; the tail (composed of from sixteen to eighteen feathers, 

 placed in lengths) is wedge-shaped, and either very long or of moderate size ; the slender bill is weak, 

 much arched and hooked at its extremity ; the foot is of medium height, smooth and powerful — that 

 of the male is furnished with a spur. The plumage, which covers the entire body except the cheeks 

 and tarsi, is prolonged upon the head, and sometimes on the nape into a crest and flowing collar ; 

 the brilliancy of its coloration is, to a certain degree, inferior to that of the Phasianidit, which we 

 have before described, but it is, nevertheless, striking and beautiful. The female is smaller than 

 her mate, owing to the unusual shortness of her tail ; she also difters in the fact that her plumage is 

 sombre and but little variegated. 



