OniGIN AND HISTORY OF THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 11 



inhabits the base of the Himalaya, and ia auooeeded higher up by GaUophaait, 

 and stUl higher by Phasiamus. Australia, with its islands, is out of the question 

 as the home of unknown species of the genus. It is also as improbable that 

 Gallus should inhabit South America as that a humming-bird should be found in 

 the old world. From the character of the other gallinaceous birds ' of Africa it 

 is not probable that Qallus is an African genua. We need not look to the west- 

 ern part of Asia, for Messrs. Blyth and Crawfurd, who have attended to this 

 subject, doubt whether Gallus ever existed in a wild state even as far west as 

 Persia. Although the earliest Greek writers speak of the fowl as a Persian bird, 

 this probably- merely indicates its line of importation. For the discovery of un- 

 known species we must look to India, to the Indo-Chinese countries, and to the 

 northern parts of the Malay ai'chipelago. The southern portion of China is the 

 most likely country ; but as Mr. Blyth Informs me, skins have been exported 

 from China during a lougperiod, and live birds are largely kept there in aviaries, 

 so that any native species of Gallus would probably have become known. Mr. 

 Birch, of the British Museum, has translated for me passages from a Chinese 

 encyclopedia, published A. D. 1609, but compiled from more ancient docu- 

 ments, in which it is said that fowls are creatures of the West, and were intro- 

 duced into the East (that is, China) in a dynasty 1400 B. c. Whatever may be 

 thought of so ancient a date, we see that the Indo-Chinese and Indian regions 

 were formerly considered as the source of the domestic fowl. Prom these several 

 considerations we must look to the present metropolis of the genus, namely, to 

 the south-eastern parts of Asia, for the discovery of species which were formerly 

 domesticated, but are now unknown in the wild state; and the most experienced 

 ornithologists do not consider it probable that such species will be discovered.- 

 " Purely bred Game, Malay, Cochin, Dorking, Bantam, and, as I hear from 

 Mr. Tegetmeier, Silk fowls may frequently or occasionally be met with, which 

 are almost identical in plumage with 0. banbiva. This is a fact well deserving 

 attention, when we reflect that these breeds rank among the most distinct. 

 Fowls thus colored are called by amateurs ' black-breasted reds.' Hamburgs 

 properly, have a very different plumage ; nevertheless, as Mr. Tegetmeier in- 

 forms me, 'the greatest difficulty in breeding cocks of the golden-spangled 

 variety is their tendency to have black tireasts and red backs.' The males of 

 white Bantams and white Cochins, as they come to maturity, often assume a 

 yellowish or saffron tinge ; and the longer neck-hackles of black Bantam cocks, 

 when two or three years old, not uncommonly become-ruddy; these latter Ban- 

 tams occasionally 'even moult brassywinged, or actually red shouldered.' So that 

 in these several cases we see a plain tendency to a reversion to the hues of G, 

 barikiva, even during the lifetime of the individual bird." 

 With regard to the history of the fowl Mr. Darwin says further : 

 "Eutimeyer found no remains of the fowl iij the ancient Swiss lake-dwellings. 

 Itis notmentioned in the Old Testament; nor is it figured on the ancient Egyptian 

 monuments. It is not referred to by Homer nor Hesiod (about 900 B. C); but 

 is mentioned by Theognis and Aristophanes between 400 and 500 B. c. It is 

 figured on some of the Babylonian cylinders, of which Mr. Layard sent me an 

 impression, between the sixth and seventh centuries B. C, and on the Harpy 

 Tomb in Lycia about 600 b. c, so that we may feel pretty confident that the 



