
Gregariousness 
Though solitary birds, mostly males, occasionally are 
encountered, for the most part, junglefowl travel, feed and roost in 
pairs or in harem parties of one male and 2 to 4 hens, especially 
during the breeding season. Broods often stay together well into the 
fall. Where birds are abundant it is not unusual to flush 5 to 10 
or occasionally more birds of both sexes out of a small area of edge 
or brushy cover. 
Psychology and Behavior 
The red junglefowl is an astonishingly agile and often shy 
bird but with a great capacity for relaxation when not unduly disturbed. 
First generation birds, raised in captivity, are more alert, move 
faster and are not as tame as are hand-reared ring-necked pheasants. 
Adults are seldom tamed except when bred over a period of years in 
captivity. When frightened, they bound into the air with a tremendous 
show of vitality. Even hand-raised birds when confined to a box or 
small cage seek escape so vigorously that heads are usually bloodied 
and often scalped in the first few minutes in captivity. 
Males, during the breeding season, are likely to be quarrelsome 
and fight together, occasionally to the death. While pugnacious at 
other times of the year, once the question of the peck order has been 
settled, flocks containing several males and females are not uncommon. 
In captivity in India, no difficulty was encountered in 
keeping junglefowl, a kalij pheasant, francolin, a chukar, and seesee 
partridges together in one pen during the fall and winter months. With 
the advent of the breeding season, however, the kalij pheasant was 
killed and the smaller species sometimes vigorously chased about the 
pen for short periods by the male junglefowl. 
Calls 
The call of the cock is a shrill, sharp crow, reminiscent 
of domestic fowls but much more abrupt, usually accompanied by a 
vigorous flapping of the wings while the bird is on the ground or 
perched on a branch. Our birds in captivity, usually crowed at intervals 
of about a minute for 5 to 8 minutes shortly after dawn and again 
occasionally until about 9 A.M. Calling in the late afternoon was also 
common though less frequent. 
Both sexes often cackle excitedly when frightened, hens 
seldom cackle after laying an egg. 
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