Junglefowl is the name of a group of birds that live in southern Asia and the East Indies. They are the ancestors of present-day domestic chickens. Junglefowl are common in India. They run with great speed, fly rather high, and roost in trees. The hen’s cackle sounds much like that of domesticated fowl, but the cock crows like a bantam rooster.
The wild red junglefowl lives mostly in mountain forests near small villages. It lives in bamboo thickets but often mingles with domesticated birds. Unlike domestic fowl, the male takes only one hen for its mate. Males are orange-red and shiny green in color. The females are a spotted brown and often are hard to see. They hatch eggs in a simple hole or hollow in the ground in the forest.
