240 POULTRY AND WILD BIRDS 
to a good standard in both particulars. They are there- 
fore preferred by people who prize both products, meat 
and eggs, about equally. Their bodies are blocky and com- 
pact, their legs comparatively short. In disposition, they 
are fairly gentle, and. although they will not sit quite so 
steadily as the meat breeds, they probably make just as good 
mothers; for they are more careful than the larger and more 
clumsy breeds, breaking fewer eggs and killing fewer young 
chicks by stepping on them. They are industrious foragers, 
and if given their liberty they 
will roam over a considerable 
range in search of insects and 
other food, thus securing a 
good portion of their own 
living. This makes their keep 
more economical than the 
meat breeds, though they 
hardly excel the egg breeds in 
this respect. The chief breeds 
of this type are the Plymouth 
Rock, Wyandotte, and Rhode 
Island Red. 
The Plymouth Rocks are the 
most popular chickens in the 
United States, being kept in larger numbers than any other 
breed. In size they are not much below the meat breeds, and 
in egg production they come close to the egg breeds. There 
are six varieties, the Barred Plymouth Rock being the com- 
monest, but many of the White and the Buff are also raised. 
The Wyandottes are somewhat smaller than the Plymouth 
Rocks, their body being shorter and more blocky. But some 
critics think that the meat is better, that they lay better, that 
aes 
BARRED PLtymMoutH Rock RoostEeR 
