RED JUNGLEFOWL 177 



ments are any guide in the case, the specimen is certainly only of normal dimensions, 

 the wing being 7*5 inches. On the other hand, I am unaware that this species is 

 variable in plumage, and can find no mention of its being liable to melanism " 

 (Clarke, " Ibis," 1900, p. 360). 



Java 



My own researches in this island have led me to the certain belief that the Red 

 Junglefowl is a recent introduction, an intruder into the territory of the true Javan 

 bird (Galhis varius). 



Many more instances might be adduced of quite clear proof of the running wild 

 of domestic fowls, and while I shall allude to this in another connection, I mention 

 it here only to emphasize the importance of trying to limit the range of this bird 

 to the natural, normal boundaries. I admit Sumatra as a valid locality, because of 

 the corresponding distribution of several species of pheasants, such as the Malayan 

 crestless fireback {Acomus erythrophthalmus) and the Malayan argus pheasant 

 {Argusianus argus). 



I have mentioned the fact that the Junglefowl occurs in the Sundarbans, which 

 is the name in use for the extreme delta region of the Hoogly and other rivers 

 which are derived from the Ganges. Concerning these birds Mr. Rainey writes : 

 '* I may add that the Junglefowls in the Sundarbans appear to be descended 

 immediately from domestic fowls, which used to be let out there in considerable 

 numbers by superstitious wood-cutters to propitiate the sylvan deities — a practice 

 still prevailing to some extent — and I have shot these birds there in different stages 

 of transition. This is interesting, as we evidently thus find the domestic fowl 

 reverting to its pristine condition, for the Red Junglefowl is undoubtedly the origin 

 of our tame varieties of fowl. I had a couple of chicks produced from eggs of wild 

 birds set under the domestic fowl, and they remained contentedly in the poultry- 

 yard, and freely bred — they were both hens — with the tame fowl. The progeny were 

 in appearance midway between their parents, and exactly similar to some I had shot 

 in the Sundarbans. About that time the cyclone of 1867 swept over the place I 

 was residing at, and of course put a premature end to the varied denizens of the 

 poultry-yard, hybrids included. I soon afterwards left my abode in the wilds of the 

 Sundarbans, and have had no opportunity since of continuing the experiment." 

 There seems little doubt that all the birds of this isolated, unique region are actually 

 domestic birds run wild, so that even on the mainland, adjoining the natural haunts 

 of the birds, we may have, as in this case, a zone stocked by man, where the birds 

 have become almost indistinguishable from the feral individuals elsewhere. 



GENERAL ACCOUNT 



Of all the pheasants, indeed of all the birds in the world, the Red Junglefowl 

 stands first in importance to mankind on the earth. From this species, and this 

 alone, all the forms of domestic fowls have taken their origin, and hence from the 

 point of view of economic utility this bird assumes a position of great interest. 

 With this point of view in our general account of the species we are not directly 



VOL. II ^ ^^ 



