HOUWINK S EXPER. CONC. THE ORIGIN OF SOME DOMESTIC ANIMALS 227 
museum. He kindly answered, that, so far as could be seen in the 
rather uncertain light in that case, these cocks had pure black breasts. 
Dr. THomas also enquired as to the results of the treading of domes- 
tic hens of the native villages by Gallus lafayetti. 
SIR WILLIAM TWYNAM K. C. M. G. wrote in 1905: 
„There used to be two jungle shrines, one near the old postholder’s 
house at RAJAKA DALUWA, near CHILOW, and one in the jungle a mile 
distant from the old Resthouse at GALOYA, on the TRINCOMALIE ROAD. 
Offerings of domestic cocks and hens used to be made at these shrines. 
Being offerings to the gods the natives never touched them, and they 
mixed with the jungle cocks and hens, with the result that at GALOYA 
in particular, there were round the shrine the most beautiful creatures 
I ever saw in the shape of poultry. The cocks were simply gorgeous in 
their plumage. They seemed to be a little larger than the ordinary 
jungle cocks.” 
This positive statement of course is not invalidated by the negative 
result of the enquiry, made at DR.THoMas’request, by the then assitant- 
Government agent of the district, Mr. W. L. KINDERSLEY, who wrote: 
„I have not been able to hear of any such fowls. It is said that if the 
eggs of the jungle fowl are hatched under a tame hen, the birds on arri- 
ving at maturity, always make for the jungle, and in cases where dome- 
stic hens have been trodden by jungle cocks, the young birds also make 
for the jungle when adult.” 
As it was shown in Dr. THOMAS’ experiments, that hybrid cocks, 
when they have the choice of mating with either of the four following 
hens: 1) domestic, 2) 1/,lafayeiti 3], domestic, 3) hybrid and 4) lafayettt, 
will take up with them in the order named, the chance is that such run 
away hybrids will pair inter se, when not all hybrid hens are trodden by 
wild lafayetti cocks. This might lead to the establishment of colonies of 
birds, strongly or even entirely resembling Jafayetti, on account of the 
dominance of the latter, and yet containing domestic blood. 
Such cases may have led to the assumption by TEMMINCK, CH. LUC. 
BONAPARTE and others, on the strength of SONNINI’s report, that the 
rumpless fowls are descendants of Gallus lafayetti, as rumpless fowls 
really occur in a domestic state in Ceylon and can therefore have cros- 
sed with lafayetti. 
To us, it seems however more probable that this supposed descen- 
dance of the rumpless fowl from lafayettı is due to the fact that lafv- 
