238 POULTRY AND WILD BIRDS 
to the production of meat, we may forego the advantage of 
a large yield of eggs and choose one of the meat breeds. The 
large majority of people who keep chickens, however, do not 
specialize in either of these lines to the neglect of the other. 
They want a hen that lays well and also furnishes plenty of 
good meat and therefore they choose a general purpose breed. 
The Egg Breeds. — These have a comparatively small 
and slender body, and therefore do not rank high as meat 
producers, but they excel as layers. They have a lively and 
restless disposition and are not 
good sitters; but this disad- 
vantage may be overcome by 
the use of an incubator. Most 
of them have large combs and 
wattles, as well as long, un- 
feathered shanks, and these 
Za features make them suffer 
Parr or Stncte-coms Warre from cold where the winters are 
TEGHOENS severe unless they have fairly 
comfortable quarters. The principal breeds of this type are 
the Leghorn, Minorca, Spanish, and Hamburgs, — the first 
being the only one that we meet very often except at poultry 
shows. 
The Leghorn is the most popular of the egg breeds and is 
kept in large numbers. It has a large comb and wattles, and 
is a fine, trim-looking bird. The brown, white, buff, and 
black varieties are common, and all but the last of these may 
be had with single comb or rose comb. They are wonderful 
layers; flocks have made a record of an average of 200 eggs 
per henina year. This, of course, means that when properly 
cared for they will lay during both winter and summer. 
The Meat Breeds. — These are large, heavy, and awkward- 
