12 



CENTRAL HALL. 



Oronp of 

 Pigeons illns 

 trating 

 Variation 

 nnder Domes- 

 tication. 



Groups of 

 Fowls and 

 Canaries 

 illustrating 

 Variation 

 nnder Domes- 

 tication. 



Group of Bnffs 

 and Beeves, 

 illustrating 

 Changes of 

 Plumage 

 according to 

 Sez and 

 Season. 



One group, in a case near the entrance to the hall, on the 

 right, shows the great variation to which a species may become 

 subject under the influence of domestication, as illustrated by 

 choice examples of the best-marked breeds of Pigeons, all of 

 which have been derived by careful selection from the wild 

 Eock Dove {Columba livia), specimens of which are shown at 

 the top of the case. 



In the corresponding case on the left are further illustrations 

 of the same subject. A pair of the Common Jungle Fowl of 

 India shows what is generally considered to be the original form 

 from which all the various breeds of domesticated fowls are 

 derived. As examples of two of the most extreme modifica- 

 tions in opposite directions which have been produced by 

 artificial selection, are the Japanese Long-tailed Fowls, in which 

 some of the feathers (coverts) have attained a length of nine 

 feet, and specimens of another breed kept in many parts of 

 Europe in which the tail is entirely absent. There is also 

 shown a group of Fowls which now live in a wild state in the 

 woods of the Fiji Islands, but are descendants from domesticated 

 owls introduced by the early voyagers of the eighteenth century. 

 A pair of Cochin Fowls is also exhibited in the same case, in 

 order to display development in point of size and in the 

 abundance of feathers on the limbs ; while a pair of white 

 " Silkies " illustrates a peculiar modification of the plumage, 

 accompanied by a rudimentary condition of the tail-feathers. 

 The pair of Coloured Dorkings exemplifies a breed largely 

 cultivated in England. 



A series of Canaries is likewise shown in this case, as an 

 example of one of the most recent additions to our stock of 

 domesticated animals, these birds having been first imported 

 into Europe from the Canary Islands in the early part of the 

 sixteenth century. Specimens are exhibited of the wild birds, 

 and of some of the most striking modifications which have been 

 produced by cultivation through many generations. 



A case placed to the north of this illustrates a remarkable 

 instance of external differences in the two sexes and changes in 

 plumage at different seasons, not under the influence of domestica- 

 tion. The birds in it belong to one species, the Euff {Pavoncella, 

 or Machetes, pi.tgnax), of which the female is called Eeeve; a 



