GALLUS FERRUGIN EUS .
to be nothing more than a ‘ hush-a-bye’ invitation to slumber. As morning dawns they le a p . siléhiîÿi to the ground, and remain
feeding about ; and at or near six o’clock the cock mounts some élévation and begins to crow a t intervals for a quarter o f an hour or
sp, after clapping his wings together two or three times back to back.
“ The egg of the Jungle-fowl does not differ from the smaller-sized ones laid by domestic poultry.
“ This bird must be sought in all jungly country which is partly cultivated; and where paddy-fields extend in long strips into
the forest, two sportsmen walking one on each side ju st within the cover, with a line o f beaters between them, can enj.oy, very
pretty shooting. The fowls rise from the stubble and fly into the wood, passing overhead; and the sport resembles Pheasant-
shooting jnv England, the flight and size of the bitds being pretty similari When the fields have been cleared of, the fowls, the
shooting may be continued with success in the woods if they he pretty open, and the sportsman be furnished with spaniels—the
sight of which forces the birds to tree, from whence very pretty snap shots may be obtained, , as they | p l often rest on a -h ig h
branch till the sportsman has arrived underneath before taking wing, again. Both cocks and hens make a desperate cackling) and
flutter when thus roused up by dogs,-and I know of no shooting which requires greater nerve and steadiness.: If-th e re are no
dogs the birds will not tree, but run slyly and silently along a n f are seen no more, unless. you be mounted on an elephant,
when it is easy enough to pot- them, -should you be. so minded, as they skulk under the brushwood. Like the Phasianidæ,. wild
poultry are omnivorous. They are not subject to- migrations* even -to the extent to which Peafowl shift their quarters ; but in
the hot season and the rains they retire deeper into the woods, the cultivated tracts no longer affording food, while ¡the sylvan recesses
provide seclusion and -shelter for breeding.”
Mr. Blytll, in tile ‘Annals and Magazine o f Natural History'-Jffi 1848,ASajs, that “ a remarkqble, fact, fBÎch I havetUbseuved: both
ili the wild Callus ferrugìnei* ((¡in.) and in 6 . Smnemtii, is, -l.hu! lor two or three months in the year (earlier in the iormerithai;
in the latter species) the.nucha! hackles lare 'replaced .by a .growth of short blackish feathers, nearly, ,as,in the Pheasant, hut devoid
of brilliancy, c This I have seen in n o r r f l ll o f Domestic Fowls, not ever, in the hybrids produced between the niale;-(7. SonnerutU
and .a common hen,- the hackles of these,-when shed a t the moulting-seaeon, being immediately,replaced :hji others ¡like th em ” -
A writer ip «The Bengal Sporting Magazine iv jl 837) Jays that. “ the: B tu n d Moorg, or Jungle-cock, is pretty « e n w l f e a l i< l « B j |
sportsmen. It is found m almost every part of file country where there is j&Tgfe Being, h ftw é f e ì f e ^ ^ P s l i y , and
frequenting the: thickest coyer, an elephant- is necessary for this sport, though- an M hw l^ ^ ll 'hird .-may he .hot
sometimes rise in pairs, affording 'an-Sasy -rightand-lefter, though likely p ) flutter a yofflfe s p o r t s m « ^ p t commghacross them.
I have always found that, on heating fori Jungle-fowl, th e ‘best place i.sitovtakc lip a positioii eighty or oiic hundred yards -ahead- of
:ny coolies,.and allow them to beat the birds .towards me. They take a,g o ad c hW jffi-fliiit to kill them dead, an d ’ -I.. , I .^¡'¡h-
only wounded, will run a considerable:-,distance -Kn -this cpsp,-there is little chance (it*lnlgging,tbe hire.. As the day breaks (on- the
'.ine. or.inar<h>you hear .them crowing on all sides - a t this cariv hour venturing to the skirts of,the,jlingle ,to feedMn; the grain- and
rice-khets, hu t appearing always oil the yin wee, -and ou your approach,they immediately disappear. When accompanied with chickens,
the sportsman ( ? ) .has the besMhaiice, ofijsnccqssihas they seldom forsake their young,, and the hen directs, to
the spot where they are. The weight o f a, Jungle-cock is about 3,t lljS,”,-,)),
There can be but little difficulty in „acclimatizing so hardy a çp„eciei®s the present; and, as. an sport, few of the
Gallinaceous hirds « u l d be introduced with n,ore.profit into large presene«. The habit of lighting with the males of»other,«p,ecie ,
as twelhias- those o f its owu,:-juight ,h e brought, forward .as an argument agiunst, this (bird ® p t ; i t would doubtless,, content itself with
some particular locality in its range, and be satisfied with ruling supreme therein.
Jio&.-^Sides of the. face :and fore part of tlie throat naked.-, Top and ¡back part of the head ,and ueckmcgvered.with lougrtlfflt
feathers,: idiestnut-red;. the: hackles (which are vSy long, covering, a great portion g i t i l e back and wings) aje( golden-yeUow ,on:,Ae
outer portion of lioth webs, the -centres blackish brown, shafts yellowish white, and the tips deep chestnut-red, darkest in those which
filli over the breast and fore part of the neck. Tile wing.coverts deep. chestnut ; tertials bronzy green.-: .secondaries dark brown, with
“ metallic, greenish! lustre, becoming chestnut upon the outer half o f ,the,,outer ivehs, lightest on the edges; primaries dark brotvn on
the- inner webs, lighter on the outer. The back dark purple; the feathers. long and. lanceolate, with .their tips rich dark red, falling
oil. I either side o f -the tail-feathers, T h e .upper,taiWoverts rich dark -metallic green,, extending f f i r -,two-thirds of'the- length o f i 3 tail,
and curving downwards.- Tail black.- glossed with -green | | | , the outer, webs. the. two centre feathers extending .-two or three inches
beyond theirestiaud curving downwards- a t their tips. The tail is always-,carried down, never upright like ¡the'Domestic Fowl* Entire!
under parts black, glossed with green. Bill horn-colour. Feet and legs dark lead-colour. .Comb red, as is also the -bare skin of, the
face. Cheek-lappets white. Spurs long and sharp, horn-colour.
Female. Head on top dark reddish brown, centre of each feather black, shafts light brown. Féathers of neck (hackles) long,
falling over the hack, blaék, with the edges of both webs golden yellow ; shafts yellow. Wings and back thickly mottled with reddish
brown and black, some shafts white ; primaries dark brown. Breast and under parts light red, shafts white. Feathers o f the flanks
darker, mottled with black« Under and upper taihcoverts dark rufousrbrown, mottled with black. Tail black... Feet and tarsi greenish
yellow.: Comb small, red, as is also the naked skin of thè; face.
The figure o f the male is life-size. Female reduced.