Part 37

Excalfactoria chinensis lineata Wetmore, in Townsend and Wetmore, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl., 63, 1919, p. 176 (Guam); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 41 (Guam); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 1, 1927, p. 20 (Marianne); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 198 (Guam); Peters, Check-list Birds World, 2, 1934, p. 96 (Guam); Bryan, Guam. Rec., vol. 13, no. 2, 1936, p. 15 (Guam); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 223 (Guam); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 287 (Guam).

Excalfactoria chinensis Strophlet, Auk, 1946, p. 536 (Guam).

Coturnix chinensis lineata Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 47 (Guam).

Geographic range.--Philippines and parts of Malaysia. In Micronesia: Mariana Islands--Guam (introduced).

Characters.--Adult: A small quail with upper parts brown splotched with black and streaked with buff; males with face and throat black surrounded by white line, upper breast blue gray, lower breast, belly and under tail-coverts and tail near "burnt sienna"; females lighter than males, underparts pale brown, mottled with blackish on breast and sides of body; bill dark lead colored, feet yellow.

Measurements.--Three adult males from Guam measure: wing, 66, 67, 67; culmen, 9.2, 10.0, 10.3; tarsus, 18.1, 18.7, 22.6.

Weights.--Two adult males taken by NAMRU2 at Guam weigh 34.5 and 35.5 grams.

Specimens examined.--Total number, 3 males from Mariana Islands, USNM--Guam (Feb. 24, June 13, 28).

Remarks.--Seale (1901:37) writes that the Painted Quail was introduced to Guam from Manila, or the island of Luzon in the Philippine Islands, by Captain Pedro Duarty of the Spanish Army in 1894. It was a successful introduction; the bird is well adapted to the grasslands, open hillsides, and fallow rice paddies. The bird appears to offer no serious competition to native species, because there are few native birds which depend largely on this habitat. The NAMRU2 party obtained specimens at Mt. Santa Rosa and near Agat; others were seen as singles or pairs near Umatac and on Mount Tenjo. Strophlet (1946:536) observed the birds in the southern part of Guam in 1945. He found them as singles or pairs in the months of September, October and November. Wilfred Crabb reported a covey of seven birds in June, 1945. Two males taken in June had enlarged testes. Seale (1901:37) obtained a nest of seven eggs.

=Gallus gallus= (Linnaeus)

Red Jungle Fowl

Phasianus Gallus Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, 1758, p. 158. (Type locality, "India orientali, Pouli condor etc.," restricted to Pulo Condor, off mouths of the Mekong.)

Phasianus Gallus Kittlitz, Obser. Zool., in Lutké, Voy. "Le Séniavine," 3, 1836, p. 284 (Ualan = Kusaie).

Gallus bankiva Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1872, pp. 89, 103 (Pelew); Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875, pp. 5, 29 (Palau); Schmeltz and Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, pp. 281, 298, 353 (Ponapé, Mortlock, Ruk); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 59 (Pelew, Caroline, Marianne, Marshall); Oustalet, Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat., Paris, (3), 8, 1896, p. 25 (Saypan, Palaos, Marshall); Hartert, Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 61 (Saipan); Seale, Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 1, 1901, p. 38 (Marianas); Safford, Osprey, 1902, p. 70 (Marianas).

Gallus ferrugineus Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1877 (1878), p. 780 (Ponapé); idem, Ibis, 1881, p. 114 (Ponapé, Kushai).

Gallus gallus bankiva Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 41 (Saipan, Pelew, Ponapé, Marshall).

Gallus gallus Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 1, 1927, p. 21 (Micronesia); Cram, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 140, 1927, pp. 238, 328 (Guam); Bequaert, Mushi, 12, 1939, p. 81 (Kusaie); idem, Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 16, 1941, p. 266 (Kusaie); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, pp. 57, 286 (Marianas, Carolines, Palaus); Wharton and Hardcastle, Journ. Parasitology, 32, 1946, pp. 294, 310 (Ulithi, Garakayo); Stott, Auk, 1947, p. 525 (Saipan).

Gallus gallus domesticus Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 198 (Marianas, Palaus, Carolines, Marshalls).

Gallus gallus micronesiae Hachisuka, Tori, 10, 1939 (1940), p. 600 (Type locality, Truk, also from Pelew, Rota, Yap, Ponapé); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 222 (Saipan, Rota, Babelthuap, Koror, Yap, Truk, Lukunor, Ponapé, Kusaie, Marshalls).

Gallus gallus gallus Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 47 (Peleliu, Ngabad, Garakayo, Ulithi, Truk).

Geographic range.--Southeastern Asia and Malaysia; introduced into many islands of Oceana. In Micronesia: Mariana Islands--Saipan, Rota; Palau Islands--Kayangel, Babelthuap, Koror, Garakayo, Peleliu, Ngabad, Angaur; Caroline Islands--Ulithi, Yap, Truk, Lukunor, Ponapé, Kusaie; Marshall Islands--exact locality not known.

Specimens examined.--Total number, 3 (1 male, 2 females) as follows: Palau Islands, USNM--Garakayo, 1 (Sept. 19)--Peleliu, 1 (Sept. 13)--Ngabad, 1 (Sept. 11).

Parasites.--Cram (1927:238, 328) found the round worms (Nematoda), Dispharnyx nasuta and Oxyspirura mansoni in birds from Guam. Bequaert (1939:81 and 1941:266) found the fly (Hippoboscidae) Ornithoctona plicata, on fowl from Kusaie. Wharton and Hardcastle (1946:294, 310) obtained the chiggers (Acarina), Neoschöngastia yeomansi and N. ewingi from fowl at Ulithi and Garakayo.

Remarks.--The Red Jungle Fowl has been introduced in Micronesia, as it has been in other parts of Oceania. It is found on many of the islands of Micronesia, including the volcanic islands and the atolls. The NAMRU2 party did not find feral fowl at Guam but found the wary birds at Ulithi and in the Palaus. The birds at Ulithi were small and of a mixed breed. At Palau some fine examples of typical jungle fowl were observed. Coultas obtained similar specimens at Ponapé and Kusaie. The natives have apparently allowed these birds to go wild, but catch them for food. These wild stocks may represent the earlier "liberations" while domestic fowl kept by natives at present appear to include several other breeds probably obtained from Europeans.

The committee that prepared the Hand-list of Japanese Birds (Hachisuka et al., 1942:222) points out that although many ornithologists believe the Red Jungle Fowl to be introduced in Micronesia and other parts of Oceania, it is their opinion (based on a series of more than 100 skins before them) that the population in Micronesia is racially distinct. They further comment, as did Hachisuka (1939b:600), that one may find hybrids between these birds and the domestic fowl belonging to the native peoples; this is commonly seen on the more populated islands such as Koror and Saipan. I have no doubt that these skins show distinct features; nevertheless, I am reluctant to recognize these by subspecific name, since the birds may be a mixture of domestic strains introduced by man at different times after the jungle fowl was first brought by the early Micronesians. It seems that the production of hybrids between the feral and domestic fowl, which we find there today, may have been going on ever since the European colonists arrived with their fancy breeds of chickens.

=Phasianus colchicus= Linnaeus

Ring-necked Pheasant

Phasianus colchicus Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, 1758, p. 158. (Type locality, Africa, Asia = Rion.)