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VOLUME XXXVXIL-No. 4. NEW YORK, APRIL, 1879. NEW SERIES-No. 387. 
THE CEYLON JUNGLE FOWL. 
The origin of our domestic animals is always an 
interesting subject, and the differences which have 
occurred through domestication and cross-breeding 
are well worthy of study. It is generally admitted 
that our domestic fowls have descended from the 
Jungle fowls of the East Indies, and the different 
species of game fowls still retain much of the shape, 
coloring, combativeness of disposition, and courage 
of the wild species. The Jungle fowls known to 
naturalists are four in number, and it is at present 
undetermined whether or not these species have a 
common origin, and if they have, which of the four 
species is the original one. The Indian Jungle 
fowl, Galius Bankiva, hears the closest resemblance 
to our well known Black-red Game of all the four 
wild ones, and that fowl is regarded as the imme¬ 
diate parent of this variety, from which the several 
sub-varieties have been bred by crossing or by 
selection. Another species from Southern India, 
Gallus Sonneratii, is distinguished by the flattened 
shafts of the hackle feathers, and although it has 
been crossed extensively with domestic fowls, its 
progeny has been lost in the general mixing of new 
blood. It is now rarely known, except as the source 
of bright colored feathers which are in demand by 
the makers of artificial flies for fishing. The third 
species, Gallus furcatus, is known chiefly by its 
forked tail feathers and its brilliant metallic green 
shading; it has been crossed on the common fowl, 
but has left no special marks upon the races. The 
fourth, the subject of our illustration, and the 
rarest species, is confined to the Island of Ceylon, 
and has been seen in Europe only for four or five 
years past. It has no very marked characteristics, 
and is more like a common specimen of much- 
mixed “barn-door fowl ” than any one of the other 
wild fowls. A general description of these fowls 
may given as follows : The adult male has striped 
and pointed feathers, which spread not only over 
the sides to form the hackle, but extend over the 
breast. The central saddle feathers are broad, 
brilliant dark-blue in color, and are edged with a 
slight fringe of orange. When young the cocks are 
but little different from the hens, the secondary 
wing feathers being barred transversely with bauds 
of light and dark brown, and the neck feathers be¬ 
ing streaked in a similar manner. As the males 
arrive at maturity the coloring becomes showy and 
brilliant, as is the habit with so many of the wild 
species of birds. The females are much like a 
Brown-red Game hen ; the secondary flight feathers 
are strongly marked with alternate dark and light 
bars, and the breast feathers have a light center 
and margin. The young chicks have the three 
dark bands, one clown the center of the head, and 
the others running backwards from the eyes, which 
are so common with the young of many of the 
domestic varieties. It is worthy of remark that 
these wild birds are very inferior to their domesti¬ 
cated descendants as table fowls, and in this respect 
they offer one instance, out of so many which we 
have, of the improvement which has been made by 
a systematic, long continued course of breeding. 
Copyright, 1879, by Orange Judd Company. 
