HOUWINK’S EXPER. CONC. THE ORIGIN OF SOME DOMESTIC ANIMALS 45 
denly becomes a brilliant purplish-blue. The convex band itself is a 
rich, glowing, greenish bronze, the feather terminating in a very nar- 
row fringe of black. These colours are wholly absent from the undersur- 
face, and, of course, from their character, disappear when viewed by 
transmitted light. 
On the mid-mantle the purplish-blue becomes so extreme that it re- 
places the proximal black in the visible portion of the feathers. The 
lower mantle changes rather abruptly, the feathers loosing their trun- 
cate character and becoming rather obtusely pointed. Simultaneously 
the curved ridge becomes obsolete and the black fringe increases. The 
purplish blue disappears and the whole of the visible feather is uniform- 
ly golden green. Just basal to the black fringe the vane is sometimes 
tinged with bronze. The lower back and rump form another abrupt col- 
our area, with almost no transition pterylum. Thé feathers are narrow 
and greatly elongated, finger-like, with rounded ends, and in colour 
dead black, with a conspicuous fringe all around of golden yellow. The 
shorter upper tail-coverts are similar, but with a large central area of 
bluish green. In the longer feathers of this series the fringe becomes ob- 
solete and the green gloss dominates the whole feather. The lesser and 
median wing-coverts are much like the back feathers in shape, hackle- 
like, but the disintegrated fringe is longer and of a rich, deep, reddish 
orange. On the inner greater coverts this pales to the golden yellow of 
the back hackles. Greater coverts and secondaries black, more or less 
glossed with bluish green. Primaries dull blackish brown. Tail- feathers 
black, glossed with greenish-blue, especially on the outer webs. 
This Junglefowl has the long, curved, central-tail-feathers but lacks 
the elongated flowing neck feathers of the other species. Its most stri- 
king secondary sexual character is the pigmentation of the comb and 
wattle. The former is very large, with the upper margin entire, and no 
traces of the deep notches of the other species. That is, the usual comb 
is thus entire, but perhaps 10 % of the cocks show very faint serrations on 
the posterior half. In one wild shot bird, for instance, I found, on close 
examination, five well-marked teeth, one of which was double-not- 
ched, all near the posterior upper angle. In three females I have observed 
minute serrations along the summit of the rudimentary comb 1). The size 
of the comb often results in its leaning far over to one side, especially 
at other than the breeding season. The central basal part is greenish or 
1) italics are ours. 
