=Present distribution of improved races.= Having briefly traced the distribution of the fowl in ancient times, and the movements which in modern times brought long-separated branches of the species together, let us look at the present situation. The Plymouth Rocks, Wyandottes, Rhode Island Reds, and Orpingtons, which are essentially one type, the differences between them being superficial, constitute the greater part of the improved fowls of America and England and are favorites with progressive poultry keepers in many other lands. In many parts of this country one rarely sees a fowl that is not of this type, either of one of the breeds named or a grade of the same type. After the general-purpose type, the laying type, which includes the Italian, Spanish, German, and Dutch races, is the most popular, but in this type popularity is limited in most places to the Leghorns and to a few breeds which, though classed as distinct breeds, are essentially the same. The Ancona is really a Leghorn, and the Andalusian, although it comes from Spain, is, like other races in that land, distinctly of the same type as the fowls of Italy. [Illustration: Fig. 54. Single-Combed Buff Orpington cock. (Photograph from Miss Henrietta E. Hooker, South Hadley, Massachusetts)] With the growth of a general-purpose class, interest in the Asiatic fowls rapidly declined. They are now kept principally by fanciers and by market poultry growers who produce extra large fowls for the table. =Deformed and dwarf races.= Although some of the races of fowls that have been considered have odd characters which, when greatly exaggerated, are detrimental and bring the race to decay, such characters as large combs, crests, feathered legs, and the peculiar development of the face in the Black Spanish fowl, when moderately developed, do not seriously affect the usefulness of fowls possessing them. With a little extra care they usually do as well as fowls of corresponding plain types. Poultry keepers who admire such decorations and keep only a few birds do not find the extra care that they require burdensome, and consequently all these races have become well established and at times popular. It is notable that in all fowls of this class the odd character is added to the others or is an exaggeration of a regular character. There are two other classes of odd types of fowls. The first of these is made up of a small group of varieties defective in one character; the second comprises the dwarf varieties, most of which are miniatures of larger varieties. =Silky fowls.= In all races of fowls individuals sometimes appear in which the web of the feathers is of a peculiar formation, resembling hair. Such fowls are called silkies. They are occasionally exhibited as curiosities but are not often bred to reproduce this character. There is one distinct race of white fowls, so small that it is usually classed as a bantam, having feathers of this kind.