
The probability of these birds crossing with the rather 
primitive, wide ranging strains of village hen, common in India has 
already been mentioned. With larger, more highly-developed birds 
which seldom range far from home, this is unlikely to occur. 
Usefulness 
As _ a source of food -- the flesh of a young red junglefowl 
resembles that of poultry though older birds are likely to be tough. 
In primitive areas, these birds are much prized as food but, in modern 
India, because they are neither easy to shoot nor to trap, many now 
hunt them for sport. Most of the birds are now to be found in the 
"reserve forests'' where poaching is being increasingly discouraged. 
Thus very few are sold on the open market as food. 
As fighting birds -- wild red junglefowl do not tame easily 
enough to make good fighting cocks. Game bantams occasionally are 
crossed with them for increased vigor and through rigid selective 
breeding dating far back, now have been developed into fighter strains 
that possibly are superior to the original stock. 
As_a game bird -- among the forest-inhabiting game birds 
of India, none are currently as abundant or have maintained their 
numbers as successfully in the face of every increasing hunting pressure 
as has the red junglefowl. Other, rarer pheasants stand higher on 
the list as trophies, but the “jungli moorghi" (literally jungle 
chicken) is most likely of all to be well represented in the hunters 
bag. Shy when pursued, agile, fast of wing and adaptable to many 
different types of cover, it possesses most of the characteristics 
required to make an ideal woodland game bird. 
Junglefowl shooting can be a very sporting proposition, 
requiring quick decisions, with most shots having to be chanced at 
surprisingly fast-flying birds. Many will sneak away rather than fly 
unless surprised, and a good dog is desirable to flush and to follow 
the birds. They are often reflushed from a tree in which they have 
effectively concealed themselves. The junglefowl offers better shooting 
than ring-necks and, in wooded areas are more wary and almost as 
difficult to hit on the wing as the ruffed grouse. 
Competion With Other Game Species 
In India the upper range of the red junglefowl often 
overlaps the lower range of the kalij pheasant. Generally these two 
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