Dr Elio Corti
Valenza - Italy

2-12-1994

Dear Elio,

I thank you for your letter, photocopies and also the card you sent me from Utrecht. It seems you met some interesting people in the Netherlands. I used to communicate with Anna Banning Vogelpoel in the Netherlands but I haven’t heard from her for some time. She was very knowledgeable on chickens.

I apologise for not sending my card for your cousin last time but I remembered after I had posted your letter. I have marked the frequency bands I operate on. Your cousin will understand, as regards times he will know when times are right for communication.

You seems to be getting on well with your book and I think it best you edit it yourself. The laser printer sounds very good. Will it be in English or your own language?

I cannot read Portuguese but I might be able to find someone who can translate. The only name I recognised in the Dinosaur article was John Ostrom of Yale University who I have corresponded with in earlier years. He has done a lot of study on the Archæopteryx, the first fossil bird.

I haven’t gone through the material on the Japanese birds yet but I do have a beautiful book with large colour photo of Japanese chickens and text on them, some of which has been translated. It was sent to me by a Japanese radio amateur who was also a chicken farmer.

Regarding the situation with the Gallus Bankiva I believe it is pretty sure that Gallus Bankiva (Red Jungle Fowl) had a number of hens around him. I will have to search information about Gallus varius.

I am sending photocopies of part of the paper written by Nicholas Collias of the University of California - Los Angeles. Collias studied the Red Jungle Fowl in the wild in Malaya and Thailand and his text I think answers your question. I would say that Bankiva is polygamous. I will try and find information on the varius. I will endeavour to get a copy of a colour photo of the Bankiva.

I received your other letter regarding the Araucana. I think Caudill’s book will be difficult to obtain. It may be available in the United States. However I will get the chapter copied and send it to you. Catty Brunson’s book is useful. Different to Caudill’s. If you write to Loyl Stromberg, tell him I advised you to write. I think he might be able to supply the Brunson’s book. Title is Araucana - rings on their ears. Stromberg may also be able to help you with Caudill’s book.

I have other material here on Araucana which I will get copied for you and send it on. There is a paper by William Cawley of the Texas A&M University, some pages in Spanish from South America and some other material I have collected.

I have concluded that the Araucana is no way near pure breed. The origin is unknown and attempts to gather pure Araucana specimens have been unsuccessful. I have proposed a possible answer to the origin in my Chicken bone booklet based on the genetic link between the Pea Comb and the Blue Egg Shell (Punnett). However this is only an hypothesis but I haven’t read anything that offers a logical answer to the origin.

An Academic from the Australian National University who I used to correspond with, prepared a paper where he suggested the blue egg Chicken may have originated on Easter Island. The evidence shows that this is very unlikely. I told him so and I believe he was must upset that I disagreed.

You will note with some of the material I am sending to support my argument. Thor Heyerdahl confirmed there were no blue egg shelled chickens on Easter Island when he took his expedition there.

The only trait that seems to be reasonably true is the blue egg shell. Even then the colours the colours vary. Some have Pea Combs, some have Straight Combs, some are Rumpless, some are not. There are a number of variations in the ear tufts and it appears nothing except the egg shell can be relied on to breed true. Cawley in his paper summed the situation up pretty well I feel.

Easter Island I think has the blue egg trait evident now in their chickens but of course these would no doubt have come from Chile who controls the island.

It will take me a week or so to get the photocopying done and will send it all together.

I think I have answered all the questions you asked. I will endeavour to find out something on Gallus varius. Give me a little time.

I will look for a Caudill’s book but I don’t think there is much chance in Australia. The US might be the best place to look for one.

So until next time. Have you received the Pekin book yet? Sea mail takes awhile unfortunately. All for now.

Regards.