Useful Qualities 61 



lently and have a great abundance of fluffy feath- 

 ers, which enable them to do their brooding well. 

 They are probably somewhat better sitters and 

 brooders than the extremely heavy fowls. Fewer 

 eggs are likely to be broken by these careful birds 

 than by the larger and more clumsy kind. 



Good foragers. These fowls are good foragers, 

 considering their size. While they are not inclined 

 to roam so far as some of the lighter and more 

 active breeds, yet they are well calculated to seek 

 their own living when an opportunity is afforded 

 them. The young fowls will roam a considerable 

 distance for insects and green food, and in this 

 respect they occupy a medium position between 

 the active, nervous breeds and the heavy Asiatics, 

 approaching more nearly the former than the latter. 



Endure cold weather well. The compact body 

 and medium-sized combs and wattles enable the 

 general-pupose fowls to withstand the severe weather 

 of the winters. While a frosted comb may occasion- 

 ally result, yet they are not nearly so liable to 

 injury by freezing as are the more noted egg breeds. 

 They have a somewhat thicker coat of feathers and 

 more fluff than the Mediterraneans. The thick 

 coat of feathers gives them a much better protection 

 than a thin one, for the reason that the air space 

 inclosed by a thick coat is considerably greater 

 than that inclosed by a thin one. While they do not 

 equal the Asiatics in this respect, yet they are sum- 



