226 A MONOGRAPH OF THE PHEASANTS 



warning-. Only a moment is permitted to the sportsman, as the keen sight of the bird 

 takes in the situation at a glance, and like a flash it turns and vanishes beyond recall. 



CAPTIVITY 



Even in Ceylon, Junglefowl do not thrive well in captivity, and there are only a 

 few instances of birds having been reared from the nest and kept for years in good 

 health and feather. They must have plenty of cover as well as a chance to be in the 

 sunlight as much as they choose, together with an abundance of insect food. If captured 

 adult, the first is the critical week, as on the slightest provocation the birds dash them- 

 selves again and again against the top of their run. A domestic chicken (not a 

 full-grown fowl) placed in the run with them is a most effectual help in calming the 

 wild-caught birds and inducing them to eat. Low country and medium elevations 

 offer the best climates for keeping these birds, as captive Junglefowl feel the cold over 

 four thousand feet rather keenly, and besides, insect life is less abundant at the higher 

 altitudes. 



It is seldom that any details are available in connection with captive birds, newly 

 caught in their native land, so the following notes ^ seem to me of particular interest in 

 showing the unexpected psychological acceptance of captivity on the part of some of the 

 wild Ceylon Junglefowl. 



" During the experiments carried on by members of the Ceylon Poultry Club with 

 the Ceylon Junglefowl, several interesting incidents occurred which are worth recording. 

 The following notes record some of these incidents. They occurred mainly in the experi- 

 mental run put up by Mr. Clement Johnson, who was the only experimenter who 

 succeeded in producing hybrids, some thirty chicks in all, from a mating of a jungle- 

 cock with a domestic hen. 



"At one time he secured two jungle hens, which he placed in a large covered-in 

 run with a jungle cock and two domestic hens. These hens tamed down wonderfully 

 quickly, and were great friends with the cock. After a time one jungle hen developed 

 gapes, so it was caught and set at liberty. Writing of this hen, Mr. Johnson says : 

 * The jungle hen that I released interests me greatly. Its one object is to get back into 

 the pen. It walks round and round outside or perches on the top. Any sudden or 

 unusual noise alarms it, and it flies or runs into cover. On the other hand, you can 

 approach within a few yards' length of it, when it just calmly walks out of your path like 

 a very tame domestic fowl, no hurry or flurry about it at all. It avoids fowls that cross 

 its path. Since its release the jungle cock inside the run calls more or less all day long, 

 and is undoubtedly distressed at seeing this hen at liberty outside his run. He gets 

 frantic when she makes a run and disappears from view. I will give her a week or ten 

 days' liberty, and then drive her back into the run again.' 



"This hen, after haunting the scene of her captivity for many days, disappeared one 

 night. It is presumed that she was destroyed by one of the jungle cats that patrol the 

 neighbourhood. 



"A little later the second jungle hen developed chicken-pox. Fearing that infection 

 would spread, Mr. Johnson had this hen also caught and liberated, but she likewise 



^ Thomas, " Spolia Zeylanica," VII, 191 1, p. 159. 



