Page:Life in Java Volume 1.djvu/159

Rh covered with grey hair. On their forehead they have a white mark, like an arched patch, which is all the more conspicuous as the rest of the face is perfectly black.

The Ayam Alas, or Jungle Cock, is plentiful in all the thick jungles of Java. We heard their crow very frequently, though, like all birds of a wild nature, they are so shy and difficult of approach that we seldom caught a glimpse of one. It is, however, a curious fact that, wherever huts have been erected in the vicinity of a jungle, and the inhabitants keep fowls, these Ayam Alas mingle readily with them, perhaps attracted by the food. They are about the size of a pheasant, and have beautiful marks on the breast and back, often of a decidedly golden hue. The breed between one of these and a domestic fowl is called Bakissar.

In this way, amused with the novelty of the scene on which we gazed, ascending almost continuously, descending occasionally, we continued