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THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



[April 



NOTES ON A FEW INDIAN GAME BIRDS. 



By F. E. PRESCOTT-DECIE. 



THE RED JUNGLE-FOWL. 



Gallus ferrugineus— Gmelin. 



From the so called jungle fowls, of which India possesses two and 

 Ceylon another species, all our varieties of domestic fowl are descended. 

 The present species is for all the world like a bantam, and it is very 

 difficult at first to realize that it is game. 



The Red jungle-fowl is a lover of thick jungle and is not found 

 anywhere near Ahmedabad. I came across the species in Rajputana 

 at Mount Abu where I stayed for a month at the beginning of the hot 

 weather of 1889. These birds were tolerably plentiful there, and in 

 whichever direction one took a walk one was sure to hear them 

 pattering about in the leaves, and to see them as well if one kept 

 quiet for a little while. In beating for big game, too, one saw a good 

 many, and on those occasions they were a dreadful nuisance, for so 

 great is the noise made by a pair of these birds as they run amongst 

 the dead leaves, that the expectant sportsman thinks a tiger at least is 

 coming, and gets into a proportionate state of excitement, only to feel 

 an unutterable fool when a pair of small birds comes running by. 



Where detached patches of jungle occur in a jungly district and 

 there are plenty of birds, good sport it is said may be obtained by 

 driving them as one drives pheasants in England, but where this is 

 not the case little can be done with them, as they are persistent run- 

 ners and a shot can usually only be obtained by having them treed by 

 a dog. 



The crow of the cock is particularly pretty ; it is something like 

 that of a domestic cock but shorter, and the last note is never pro- 

 longed. I heard it constantly morning and evening, and one night 

 when I was sitting up for a tiger, 1 heard it at intervals all the night 

 except between eleven and two. The young birds are said to be 

 capital eating if kept for a day or two, but I had no opportunity of 

 testing this as it was the breeding season when I was at Mount Abu, 

 and I consequently did not shoot any. 



The dimensions as given by Dr. Jerdon are as follows : — Length 

 about 26 inches ; wing 9 ; tail 15 ; tarsus 2f ; weight about 2 J pounds. 



