Tije, Pe 
HOUWINK’S EXPER. CONC, THE ORIGIN OF SOME DOMESTIC ANIMALS 37 
the median wing coverts occurs another extremely specialized zone, if 
anything even more extreme than that of the hackles. The enamelled 
area is so extensive that in full-plumaged birds it forms a broad, so- 
lid zone across the wing. The proximal part is formed by feathers 
which have but the merest tip of waxy structure, while in the poste- 
rior part of this wing area the feathers are solidly cornified for some 30 
mm. of their length, the entire distal part of the vane being thus affec- 
ted, and the colour being a rich ochre. Where any part of the visible 
portion of the vane is free, it is orange-red. The great primary coverts 
are dull, dark-brown, while those protecting the secondaries are glossed 
with purple, with only a white shaft-mark to hint of the specialisation 
in the adjoining feathers. Flightfeathers brownish-black, the primaries 
faintly edged with pale grey, and the secondaries glossed with greenish. 
Underparts like the back, but with much more greyish-white on the 
fringes and shaft-stripes. Indeed, posteriorly, the black becomes re- 
stricted to two broad longitudinal bands. A patch of feathers on the si- 
des of the belly and the flanks shows a tendency to form another zone 
of specialization, but here we find only an abondance of the orange - 
red pigment, with little or no cornification of the vane. 
Comb, wattles and bare skin of head, chin and throat, red, very in- 
tense at the season of courtship, and often extending far down the neck 
under the clothing of the hackles. Upper mandible dark-brown or 
black, paler at the tip; lower mandible yellowish horn. Irides varying 
from clear red, through reddish-orange to yellow. When in full colour 
the legs and feet are salmon red +), and the claws black. After death and 
at other than the breeding season a yellowish hue predominates. 
Length 700—800 mm.; culmen from nostril 16; wing, 240; tail 380; 
tarsus 77; middle toe and claw 64. Spur long, slender distally and much 
curved, 30 mm. in length. Weight 1 Ib 9 ozs to 2 Ibs 9.5 onz. The most 
pronounced diversity is in the hackles, in which the terminal enamel- 
led spot may be pure white or rich yellow ochre. Then, too, in cocks of 
equal age, the bodyplumage may sometimes lack the iridescent gloss, 
while the amount of white varies within wide limits. The absence of 
gloss and excess of white are also, however, marks of immaturity. 
Adult female. Feathers on the head brown or dull orange, shading in- 
to rusty or rufous on the neck and mantle, and paling into buffy-white 
on the rear mantle. These feathers have all two broad, longitudinal li- 
1) italics are ours. 
