Dorkings are large heavy fowls, first-rate for the table, good sitters and mothers: but rather delicate, require a good grass range, and do not do well on damp soils.
Spanish are handsome fowls, lay numerous large eggs, do not sit; are not so good for the table as the Dorkings, being longer in the limbs, and not so fleshy.
Cochins and Brahmas are large domesticated fowls, very hardy; can be kept in by a low fence; they are good layers, good sitters, good mothers, and useful family fowls on the table.
Hamburghs are pretty, light, active, roaming fowls; they are called everlasting layers, as they never wish to sit, but lay on incessantly, except at moulting-time. They do not bear close confinement well, and are difficult to keep in enclosed places, as they fly like pheasants, and know not bounds.
The crested Polish, black, white, and spangled, are also non-sitters and good layers; but they are not so hardy as the spangled Hamburghs.
Game are hardy, very fair layers, good sitters, the best of mothers; plump on the table, though not very large; well able to take care both of themselves and their chickens.
Bantams are pretty little pets, that may be suffered to roam about a garden without doing any injury.
The French breeds—Houdans, Crève Cœurs, and La Flèche—are remarkable for their good qualities as table fowls.
The White Silky fowls are a very singular breed, with divided feathers, like wool or silk, black skins, and black bones. They have their good points, however: they are admirable sitters and nurses, and bring up young partridges and pheasants better than any other fowls. They are also very good to eat, though their black skin renders them rather unsightly on the table.