_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