94 DOMESTIC ANIMALS 



mallard, has been persuaded to abandon its wander- 

 ing ways and settle down to a life of ease and obesity 

 as a dependant of man. In India there is a duck 

 of the same genus as the mallard, known as the 

 spotted-billed duck (Anas poecilorhynchus) , which 

 is as large as the mallard and quite as tasty, and is, 

 moreover, not migratory, but remains and breeds 

 in the country. But it has not been domesticated : 

 the tame ducks in India, as here, are all mallards. 

 The muscovy duck is a distinct species which has 

 been domesticated elsewhere and introduced. 



From the ducks let us turn to the hens. The 

 partridge, grouse and pheasant are all dainty birds, 

 but if we desire to eat them we must shoot them, or 

 (prok pudor .') snare them. Plover's eggs are worth 

 four shillings a dozen, but we must seek them on 

 the moors. The birds that have covenanted to 

 accept our food and protection and lay their eggs 

 for our use and rear their young for us to kill are 

 descended from Gallus bankivus, the jungle fowl 

 of Eastern India. How they came here history 

 records not : perhaps the gipsies brought them. 

 They appear now in strange and diverse guise, the 

 ponderous and feather-legged Cochin-China, the 

 clean-limbed and wiry game, the crested Houdan, 

 the Minorca with its monstrous comb, and the puny 

 bantam. In Japan there is a breed that carries a 

 tail seven or eight feet in length, which has to be 

 " done" regularly like a lady's hair, to keep it from 

 dirt and damage. 



