specimens which we have seen, some of very large size, had little in our eyes, stature excepted, to recommend them ;-their contour seemed to be destitute of compactness, there was no energy in their movements;—the proud strut, the spirited action, the elegant symmetry, the animated aspect, so conspicuous in the high-bred game race of our country, or some of the bold but diminutive bantam breeds, was wanting.

2ndly. The Javanese jungle-fowl, (Gallus Bankiva.) This species, the Ayam-utan of the Malays, is a native of Java; but either a variety or a distinct species of larger size, yet very similar in colouring, is found in continental India. The Javanese or Bankiva jungle-fowl, is about the size of an ordinary bantam, and in plumage resembles the blackbreasted red game-bird of our country, with a steel-blue mark across the wings. The comb is high, its edge is deeply serrated, and the wattles are rather large. The hackle feathers of the neck and rump are long and of a glossy golden orange; the shoulders are chestnut red, the greater wing-coverts deep steel-blue, the quill-feathers brownish black, edged with pale reddish yellow, or sandy red, The tail is of a

black colour with metallic reflections of green and blue. The under parts are black. The naked space round the eyes, the comb, and wattles are scarlet. The hen closely resembles a brown hen of the game breed, except in being very much smaller. That this bird, or its continental ally, is one of the sources-perhaps the main source -of our domestic race, cannot be doubted. It inter-breeds freely with our common poultry, and the progeny is fertile. Most beautiful cross-breeds between the Bankiva jungle-fowl and bantam may be seen in the gardens of the Zoological Society.

3dly. Sonnerat's jungle-fowl, (Gallus Sonnerati.) This is the common jungle-fowl of continental India; it inhabits the woods, and is shy and vigilant. It exceeds in size the Bankiva jungle-fowl, and in plumage and symmetry is very beautiful. For spirit and determination in combat it is highly celebrated, insomuch that Mussulman natives of India, who enter into the barbarous sport of cock fighting with incredible eagerness, are anxious to procure birds of this species, which they will match against others of the ordinary game breed, confident of the victory. It is easily domesticated; and living specimens are gene

rally to be seen in the gardens of the Zoological Society.

In this splendid species, the comb of the male is large with its margin serrated; the wattles are rather ample, the hackles of the neck, and lower part of the back, and the wing coverts on the shoulders, have the shafts expanded into a thin cartilaginous, or rather horny plate, of a bright golden yellow, with a rich metallic gloss. These plates vary in shape, being in some feathers angular, in others oval, or almost circular. The plumage on the middle of the back, the breast, and under parts generally is a deep grey, each feather having a paler margin. The tail is of deep rich glossy green, with varied metallic reflections; bill and legs yellow. The females which have come under our notice were smaller than the males,-of a rich brown colour, beautifully speckled and marbled with darker pencillings: neither comb nor wattles were very apparent. In reference to Sonnerat's jungle fowl, we find the following details in the proceedings of the Zoological Society, 1832, p. 151. This bird, observes colonel Sykes, is the Rahn Komrah of the Mahrattas. It is " very abundant in the woods of the western Ghauts, where

there are either two species or two very strongly marked varieties. In the valleys, at 2,000 feet above the sea, Sonnerat's species is found, slender, standing high on the legs, and with the yellow cartilaginous spots on the feathers, even in the female. In the belts of woods on the sides of mountains at 4,000 feet above the sea there is a short-legged variety; the male has a great deal of red in his plumage, which Sonnerat's has not; the female is of a reddish brown colour, and is without cartilaginous spots at all. In fact, the female of this variety is the Gallus Stanleyii of Mr. Gray's "Illustrations," eggs exactly like those of the domestic fowl in form and colour, but less in size. The wild hen would appear to sit on a much smaller number of eggs than the domestic, as colonel Sykes shot a hen upon her nest, in which were only three eggs, and the process of incubation had evidently commenced some days. In the craw and stomach of many birds, nothing whatever was found excepting the seeds of a stone-like hardness, called Job's tears, (Coix barbata,) Irides brownish deep

*

This might have been an accidental circumstance, and a single instance is no proof that the wild hen sits on fewer eggs, or rears a less numerous progeny, than her domestic relative.

orange, The crow, or call of this species is like that of the bantam cock." "Many of the (domestic) hens, particularly in the villages of the Ghauts, are not to be distinguished from the wild bird (Sonnerat's) excepting only in the want of the cartilaginous spot on the wing coverts."

Captain Thomas Skinner, in his Excursions in India, (1832,) thus notices the jungle-fowl, (Sonnerat's) which he met with in abundance. "In some parts of the forest, we saw several jungle-fowl; they have the same habits as the domestic poultry; the cock struts at the head of his hens, and keeps a strict watch over their safety. Whenever they were disturbed by our attempts upon them, he flew to the highest branch of some tree beyond our reach, and crowed with all his might, while his dames ran into holes and corners to escape our attacks; they are so cunning that we found it impossible to get within shot of them, with all the caution we could use."

An amusing writer on "Sporting Scenes in India," (N. M. Mag., 1829, p. 234,) speaking of the wild jungle-fowls, says that the sportsman may be successful in his attempts, "by ascertaining from successive cries the way they