960 — Effects of Reversion to the Wild State, etc. {.December, 
parts of the island, but I did not see any of them. I obtained 
the most satisfactory account from Mr. Emerson, a son of one of 
the early missionaries who was located at the north-west end of 
the Island of Ouahu, where the son still resides, The domestic 
birds escaped from his father’s place at least fifty years ago, and 
occupy an extensive elevated or mountainous wooded country. 
They still nest on the ground, and are quite numerous, in spite of 
the depredations of the wild cats. Although he has often seen 
them they are the most wild and wary of any animal he had ever 
attempted to approach, and he was very rarely able to shoot one. 
At the approach of day the whole forest would be vocal with the 
crowing of the cock, and although secreted right among them, 
when daylight came not one could be seen, and all was as still as 
if nothing had ever disturbed the quiet of the wilderness. How 
they managed to disappear so quietly in the gray of the morning 
he could not explain, for he never heard them fly from their 
perches in the trees. 
They had diminished appreciably in size, and had assumed a 
uniform buff color. Now I confess that I do not know the color 
of the wild bird from which our barnyard fowl, or that which 
was common in the States sixty years ago, is descended, but if, 
as I have ventured to suggest, there is a tendency, when domes- 
ticated animals revert to the wild state, to return, not only to the 
wild habit but to take on other peculiarities of their wild ances- 
tors, from which they had departed under the influence of domes- 
tication, then we may infer that the original wild stock was of a 
buff color. 
I do not know that this subject has been deemed worthy of 
observation by naturalists, at least I have not been so fortunate 
as to meet with any discussion of it, but I hope an amateur eG 
be allowed to so far depart from precedent as to make sides 
_ vations in out-of-the-way directions. It may be that my inclina ? 
tions have too much of a practical tendency for strictly scientite 
studies. I study the bones but little, for practical utilitarian fea- 
tures interest me more. 
