LIVE STOCK AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS 341 



from domestication into the woods. In this wild condition, 

 they readily maintain themselves in considerable numbers and 

 thus furnish sport in hunting. Wild turiceys, wild chickens, 

 and wild pea fowls are quite commonly met with at the higher 

 elevations on the Hawaiian Islands. 



The so-called native breeds of chickens are small in most 

 tropical countries, weighing up to about three pounds. More- 

 over, they are commonly of poor flavor, and the white settlers 

 have everywhere carried with them into the Tropics improved 

 breeds of poultry and with considerable success. All domestic 

 ducks seem to have descended from the wild Mallard and 

 musk ducks and are now found everywhere in the Tropics. 

 Domestic geese came from the wild graylag goose of Europe 

 and the Asiatic goose, and descendants of these two types are 

 found in domestication in all parts of the Tropics. Apparent 

 hybrids between these two types have been met with in India 

 and Africa. 



The guinea fowl is a native of Africa and readily makes 

 itself at home in any part of the Tropics. The pea fowl is a 

 native of Eastern Asia, particularly India, China, and the ad- 

 jacent islands. It readily adapts itself to tropical conditions in 

 all parts of the world and occurs in both a wild and domestic 

 form in nearly all tropical countries. The turkey is a native 

 of the United States, Mexico, and Central America, but has 

 now been quite generally introduced into tropical countries, 

 where it thrives excellently well. 



OSTRICHES 



There are at least three common species of ostriches in 

 Africa, one characteristic of North Africa, a second of South 

 Africa, and a third of Somaliland. The ostrich reaches a 

 height of 6 to 7J4 feet. In the wild state the female lays about 

 24 eggs. The ostrich industry is now carried on in the Trans- 

 vaal, Cape Colony, Natal, Southwest Africa, Algeria, Tunis, 



