470 
SONNE RAT’S JUNGLE FOWL. 
The head is decorated with an elegant crest of upright feathers, their shafts being nearly 
devoid of web, and expanding at the extremities into a number of delicate barbs. The general 
color of the bird 
is rich deep sat- 
iny-violet , ap- 
pearing black 
except in certain 
lights, and the 
feathers of the 
lower part of the 
back are flaming 
orange - red, the 
depth of hue be- - 
ing changeable, 
according to the 
light. The tail 
is smaller than 
that of the do- 
mestic cock, and 
the central feath- 
ers are snowy- 
white, the others 
being deep green 
glossed with pur- 
ple. The total 
length of the 
adult male is 
two feet. The female is smaller, and her plumage is 
below. 
BARN-DOOR POULTRY. 
We now arrive at the typical genus of the Gallinge, to which the ordinary barn-door 
poultry, with all its multitudinous varieties, belongs. Our first example of this genus is the 
beautiful Sonnebat’ s Jungle Fowl. 
This fine bird is a native of India, and is found chiefly in the wooded districts. Although 
smaller than the common domestic fowl, it is a wonderfully powerful bird in proportion to its 
size, and so fierce and determined a combatant that the native sportsmen, who set great store 
upon fighting cocks, always prefer a Jungle Cock as their champion. As in general appear- 
ance it is something like the domestic fowl, some persons have supposed that it is the stock 
from which our poultry were derived. The Bankiva Fowl, however, is thought with more 
reason to be the original progenitor Of these useful birds. The very peculiar formation of the 
hackles affords a good reason for believing that the domestic fowl is not the offspring of 
Sonnerat’s Jungle Fowl. The webs of the hackles and upper tail-coverts are dark gray, but 
their shafts are bright orange, dilating in the centre and at the tip into flat, shining horny 
plates of a brilliant orange hue, which give a peculiar splendor to the plumage, and are 
discernible at a considerable distance, their tips being rounded instead of lancet-shape. 
The voice of this bird is rather startling, for at first sight it looks so like a game-cock, that 
its crow strikes the ear in a very absurd manner. Every one knows the ludicrous attempts 
made by a young cock to crow like his elders ; how he breaks down just when he thinks 
he is doing best, like a young lad with a cracked voice, trying to talk with a manly intona- 
tion, and going unexpectedly from hoarse bass to sharpest treble. Give the young cock a sharp 
SILVER PHEASANT . — Euplocomus nycthemerus. 
warm cinnamon-brown above and grayish-white 
