30 THE POULTRY-BOOK. 



pounds ; one hen, two years old, ten pounds ; and another hen, 

 of the same age, eight and a half pounds. 



Mr. Burnham says of his fowls : 



" For their age, the above specimens of Chittagongs are the 

 largest and finest I ever yet met with. I have known the 

 ' Great Malay' species a good while, and have seen them near 

 New York and around Philadelphia, where, at twelve to fif- 

 teen months old, they would draw fourteen to sixteen pounds 

 per pair ; but I never yet saw a pair of fowls, of any breed, 

 which, at less than seven months old, would weigh nineteen 

 pounds save those which are delineated in the above en- 

 graving." 



On the whole it may be observed that the Chittagong breed 

 are the largest in the world the pullets usually weighing 

 from eight to nine pounds when they begin to lay, and the 

 cockerels from nine to ten pounds, at the same age. They do 

 not lay as many eggs in a year as smaller hens, but they lay as 

 many pounds of eggs as most of the best breeds. 



Mr. Rugg says, in a letter : "I am aware that with some 

 the idea is that the Cochin China is an elephant among fowls, 

 and so it is compared with its inferiors ; but by no means so 

 when compared with the Chittagong. ' ' Heretofore, most persons 

 have confounded this splendid breed with the Great Malay ; but 

 on careful comparison, the points of difference will be found 

 to be important. There is less offal ; the flesh is finer, al- 

 though the size is greatly increased ; and their fecundity is 

 greater, and the offspring arrive earlier at maturity, than in the 

 common Malay variety. 



There is also a red variety of the Chittagong, which is rather 

 smaller. Mr. Rugg describes them as follows : " The red or 

 yellow variety of Chittagongs have legs sometimes yellow and 

 sometimes blue ; the latter color, perhaps, from some mixture 

 'with the dark variety ; the wings and tails are short Some- 



