AMERICAN POULTRY INDUSTRY 5 



as Craniota, because they have a skull, heart and brain. They 

 are classed as Aves, because they are true birds, feathered, and 

 have four limbs, one pair for progression on land and one pair 

 for flight; no teeth. They are sub-divided into the order, 

 Rasores, because they are terrestrial in their habits, haying 

 stoUt legs suitable for .scratching, and strong arched beaks suit- 

 able for seed eating. Gallus is a true representative of this 

 order, and is the common ancestor of all our domestic fowls; 

 it was a jungle fowl native to southwestern Asia and Oceania. 



To-day there are over a hundred different varieties of chickens. 

 By variety we mean species of certain well defined character- 

 istics, which are officially recognized, as by the American Stan- 

 dard of Perfection. 



Scope of Poultry Industry. — The importance of the poultry 

 industry, and the relative importance of chickens to the industry, 

 may be gathered from the United States census report for 1910, 

 as shown in Table I. 



Table I. — Species of Poultry in United States According to 1910 



Census 



Unfortunately, Table I fails to take into account the numbers 

 of poultry under three months of age, or those which are raised 

 and kept in backyards of towns and villages all over the country. 

 If these were added they would constitute a big increase over the 



