GAME BIRDS OF INDIA AND ASIA. I7 



with black and gold, and the side feathers of the 

 tail are black. It is a curious fact that few tame 

 hens are coloured exactly like this. 



The hen is about seventeen inches long, with a 

 wing just over seven and shank about two and a 

 half inches. 



Young cocks, as usual, are much like the hen at 

 first. The comb and wattles are red, and the face 

 reddish flesh-colour ; the beak dark brown, eyes 

 red, and legs slate-colour. The ear-lobes are usu- 

 ally white in Indian specimens and red in those 

 from further east, which also tend to be redder 

 in plumage. 



This species ranges from India, through Burma 

 and the Shan States, to Siam, Cochin China, the 

 Malay Peninsula and many eastern islands ; but 

 its precise natural range is not quite certain, as, 

 being the ancestor of domestic fowls, it is apt to 

 give rise to feral or secondarily wild races, owing 

 to the escape or intentional liberation of tame 

 poultry. It especially frequents low elevations 

 on hills, and likes cover near cultivation ; and in 

 such places it often interbreeds with its tame des- 

 cendants. 



The voice of this bird is just like that of the tame 

 fowl, but in the case of the cock's crow the resem- 

 blance is to that of the Bantam breeds, the last 

 note being short. It breeds from March to June, 

 laying up to eleven pale buff eggs in a rough nest 

 on the ground. The eggs are small, scarcely ex- 

 ceeding two inches in length. 



The red jungle-fowl, in India, is practically con- 

 fined to the region where the sal-tree (Shorea 

 robusta) grows ; so much is this the case that an 



