APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING 



497 



wings and an enlarge- 

 ment of the muscles of 

 the legs; and the larger 

 the bird, the more marked 

 is the difference in devel- 

 opment of the wing and 

 leg muscles. In flying 

 birds the meat of the legs 

 and that of the breast (or 

 wing muscles) are of al- 

 most the same color. In 

 most domestic land birds 

 the meat of the fore part 

 of the body is light (or 

 " white "), that of the hind 

 part, dark. In waterfowl, 

 not so far removed from 

 the flying habit, the meat 

 of the different parts is 

 much the same in color, 

 but with a tendency to 

 lighter color in the ante- 

 rior portions. Difference 

 in color of muscles of 

 different sets of organs of 

 locomotion in domestic 

 poultry is plainly due to difference 

 in development and use. Through 

 disuse the muscles of the wings, 

 which are the most highly devel- 

 oped muscles of the normal bird, 

 lose color, become soft, and finally 

 diminish in size. But it is this meat 

 which most people prefer ; hence it 

 becomes necessary for the breeder 

 of table poultry to give particular 

 attention to the development of the 

 white meat, that is, to keep up the 

 quantity of development in this 

 character when its natural tendency 

 is to diminish. This he can do only 

 by the most rigid selection of breed- 

 ing birds well developed in this sec- 

 tion, and by different methods of 

 handling the birds to be developed 



Fig. 489. 



Partridge Cochin cock. 

 Graham) 



(Photograph by 



Fig. 490. Partridge Cochin hen. 

 tograph by Graham) 



(Pho- 



