208 A MONOGRAPH OF THE PHEASANTS 
slaty grey, irrespective of age, sex or locality. Iris light to rather deep orange-red. The 
bare skin of the sides of the head, skin, throat and upper part of the neck in front, 
smooth and of varying shades of red. The large erect comb, thin and deeply notched 
above, and the two gular wattles vary from deep dull red to bright crimson. When 
a large series of birds with definite locality labels is examined it is evident that the ear 
lappets tend to be whitish or pinkish-white in Indian birds, and red, like the wattles and 
comb in birds from Burma and the Malay Peninsula. The proportion is about forty 
per cent. of each, leaving twenty per cent. which are neutral or actually negative. I have 
seen many Junglefowl from Pahang, Johore and Java, which had the ear-lappets pearly 
white, and, on the other hand, I have shot birds in southern Garhwal with the lappets 
showing no trace of light colour, being indistinguishable in hue from the comb and 
wattles, even when these were very bright in colour. In northern Burma I have 
secured two adult Junglecocks feeding together with several hens in a part of the jungle 
far distant from any native fowl which respectively showed the two extremes in colour 
of lappets. Where white is present, it is like enamel or polished ivory, and changes to 
violet or blue where it merges into the red of the face or upper part of the lappet. It is 
true that Indian birds, especially those from the dryer, semi-arid regions, are noticeably 
pale, while the Junglefowl from the terai and the Malay States are richer, with the red 
more brilliant. I do not, under the circumstances, however, consider it right to give 
these subspecific designation. There is a small area in Pahang where the Junglefowl 
are paler than any Indian birds, probably due to the infusion of some pale domestic 
strain. And again we find many accounts written by sportsmen which present such 
facts as those of Kelham in the “Ibis” of 1882: ‘‘ Whether or not the Malay species, 
Temminck’s G. dankiva, is really distinct from the Indian, it is hard to say; but if it is 
distinct, both kinds are certainly found in the Malay countries; for while stationed in 
Perak I shot, out of the same tract of jungle, unmistakable specimens of G. ferrugineus, 
with the rich golden hackles and white ear-patches, also birds of far darker, in one case 
almost black, plumage. But the wild Junglefowl interbreed so much with domestic 
roosters from the villages, that I cannot help thinking these dark-coloured birds to be 
the results of such intercourse, particularly as many of them, though very unlike the 
typical G. ferrugineus, are not like one another, varying much in the intensity of their 
colouring.” 
Weight, 1 lb. 12 ozs. to 2 Ibs. 5 ozs. 
Length, 630 to 700 mm.; culmen from nostril, 16; wing, 235; tail, 350; tarsus, 77; 
middle toe and claw, 55. Spurs averaging 33 mm., sharp, slender and much curved. 
VARIATION AND MOULT 
The hen-coloured game cocks are, of course, congenitally so coloured, but it is not 
unusual, as in other true pheasants, for the cock bird ontogenetically to assume the 
plumage of the hen. This is due to some injury to the sexual organs, and is one of the 
most inexplicable phenomena known to science. Its solution will mark a decided step 
in problems of evolution, and perhaps in the origin of life. Recent experiments by 
Morgan have indicated that the sexual organs of the hen-coloured Sebright bantams 
contain luteal cells which are usually characteristic only of ovarian tissue. This, together 
