Chapter L 
THE NATURAL HABITS OF THE HEN AND WHAT DOMESTICATION HAS 
DONE. THE EARLY HISTORY OF DOMESTIC FOWLS. THEIR ORIGIN 
AND GRADUAL DEVELOPMENT. SOME OF THE RESULTS 
ALREADY ATTAINED. THE PROBABILITIES 
OF THE FUTURE. 
T t is quite generally believed by natural- 
| ^ ists that our common domestic hens 
' are descended from the wild jungle- 
. . fowls of Asia, which are scientifically 
named Gallus Bankiva. There are four recog¬ 
nized species of Gallus found there, very 
possibly of one common origin far back in 
the unrecorded past, but now having little in 
common except their wildness, and because of 
their being sterile, or producing only barren hy¬ 
brids when mated, a common origin is doubtful; 
if of common origin they have varied so widely 
as to now be distinct species, and, tested by the 
standard of fertility when mated, the other 
species are unrelated to G. bankiva. This 
wild jungle fowl of Northern India, bears a quite 
close resemblance to the Black Breasted Red 
Game fowl as we know it, the chief difference 
being that the Games carry the tail more erect; 
in the bankiva the tail is carried drooping. Of 
the history of these birds the Encyclopedia 
Britannica says: 
k “It inhabits Northern India and greatly re¬ 
sembles in plumage, the Black Breasted Red 
Game, and this is especially the case with ex¬ 
amples from the Malay countries, between 
which and examples from India some differ¬ 
ences are noticeable,—the latter have a plumage 
less red, and ear lappets almost invariably white, 
while in the former the ear lappets are crimson, 
like the comb and wattles, and the legs yellow¬ 
ish in color. If the Malay birds be considered 
distinct, it is to them that the name G. bankiva 
properly applies. This species is said to be 
found in lofty forests and in dense thickets, as 
well as in ordinary bamboo-jungles, and when 
cultivated land is near its haunts it may be 
seen in the fields after the crops are cut, in strag¬ 
gling parties of 10 to 20. The crow of the cock 
is described as being just like that of the Ban¬ 
tam. but never prolonged, as in some domestic 
birds. The hen breeds from January to July, 
according to the locality, and lays from S to 13 
creamy-white eggs, occasionally scraping to¬ 
gether a few leaves or a little dried grass by way 
of a nest. 
“Several circumstances seem to render it like¬ 
ly that fowls were first domesticated in Burmah 
or the countries adjacent thereto, and it is the 
tradition of the Chinese that they received their 
poultry from the West, about 1,400 B. C. By 
the Institutes of Manu, the date of which is 
variously assigned from 1200 to S00 B. C., the 
tame fowl is forbidden,though the wild is allowed 
to be eaten, showing that its domestication was 
already accomplished when they were written. 
The bird is not mentioned in the Old Testament, 
nor by Homer, nor is It figured on ancient 
Egyptian monuments. Pindar mentions it, 
and Aristophanes calls it the Persian Bird, thus 
indicating it to have been introduced into Greece 
through Persia, and it is figured on the Baby¬ 
lonian cylinders between the 6th and 7th centur¬ 
ies, B. C. 
“Game fowls differ less from the wild bankiva 
than any other variety; they are, however, con¬ 
siderably larger, and carry the tail more erect 
than the wild birds. In some parts of India, 
sportsmen find it not easy to distinguish 
between the wild and domesticated birds.” 
Discussing the origin and history of domestic 
fowls, Darwin, in his “Animals and Plants un¬ 
der Domestication,” says: 
“History of the Fowl.—Rutimever found no 
remains of the fowl in the ancient Swiss lake- 
dwellings; but, according to Jeitteles, such 
have certainly since been found associated 
with extinct animals and prehistoric remains. 
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