DOMESTIC GALLINiE. 397 



The last species is the Fork-tailed Fowl or Javan Jungle Fowl 

 ((t. furratiis), which inhabits Java and some of the islands in 

 the Malay Archipelago. The neck is metallic green, the saddle 

 hackles orange with a brown centre, and the two central tail- 

 feathers curved out in a forked manner ; the comb is greenish- 

 red or yellow, and quite clean at the edge, no serrations- being 

 seen. Numerous crosses with domestic fowls have been pro- 

 duced, and it is said that two other supposed species, O. 

 Teniiiiiddi and G. ceneus, have arisen in this way. 



There is little doubt but that G. banJdva has given rise to the 

 various domestic breeds, and may possibly have been helped to 

 some extent by G. Sonnei-atii, these breeds having originated 

 by artificial selection and breeding. The longer animals and birds 

 are under domestication the more they seem subject to variation. 

 By judicious selection it is quite possible through a long series 

 of ages to have formed from a single type such diverse forms as 

 the Bantam on the one hand and the Dorking on the other, or 

 the tailless fowl of Holland and the long-tailed fowl of Japan. 



The Turkey (Meleagris). — The ancestry of the turkey is 

 less complex, but still is a matter of uncertainty. There are 

 three wild turkeys — one common to Canada and the States, 

 the so-called American turkey, M. americana ; another is found 

 in Mexico, M. mexicana ; and a third in Guatemala and 

 Central America generally, M. oeellata. 



There is some doubt as to M. americana and M. mexicana being 

 distinct species, some authorities considering them varieties : 

 there is little difference except in colour, the Mexican species 

 having white tail-coverts and tips to the tail-feathers. If they 

 are distinct, there is little doubt but that our domestic turkeys 

 are derived from M. mexicana , for both have the white in the 

 tail, which is absent in the American turkey. 



The Honduras or Ocellated Turkey (J/, oeellata) is found in 

 Guatemala and Yucatan. It certainly has no connection with 

 our domestic forms, although hybrids of it have been known to 

 breed in domestication. 



