Putting aside the value of Cochins as fancy fowls, their chief importance as profitable poultry depends on the immense supply of winter eggs yielded by the pullets of the year. This, I am confident, will eventually be found their strongest recommendation; for table birds, their length of leg, small breast, and game-like flavour, are objectionable, and the colour of their skin renders them very unfit for being used as boiled fowls. The attempt to breed pure Cochins with a fuller breast I believe to be perfectly futile, their wings are so small in size that they never fly, and the muscles which move the wings and form the entire mass of flesh on the breast, are consequently of small size also; it would be as reasonable to expect the muscles of a blacksmith in the arms of a draper, as the plumpness of a Dorking on the breast of a Cochin. The hens are extremely good sitters, their large size enabling them to cover a great number of eggs, and their docility, and the readiness with which they sit in any situation in which they may be placed when broody, being also great recommendations. I have found that the eggs hatch remarkably well, and that the chicken are equally, if not more hardy than those of other fowl. In speaking of their good qualities, their contentedness in a comparatively small space, their attachment to home, and the ease with which they are confined by a three feet fence, must not be omitted. Their chocolate coloured eggs, though small, are of good flavour, but they have not yet been sufficiently introduced into the markets to state how they are appreciated by the public at large. With regard to their laying twice in one day, such an event happens by far too rarely to be taken into consideration when speaking of their economical value, and when it does occur no egg is laid on the following day. The great drawback to Cochins, as farmers’ fowls, is the large quantity of food they require, which, notwithstanding all that has been said to the contrary by their exclusive admirers, is considerably greater than that consumed by other varieties, and their disposition leads them to remain at home instead of seeking for worms and other food in the fields; in fact, the old birds seem not to care for the large earth worms, which are so greedily devoured by all other fowls. BRAHMA POOTRAS.--In the first edition of this book I inserted the description, from actual observation, of a pair of these birds that had been sent to this country from the United States, by Dr. Bennett, who claimed to be the original holder of the variety, and I left the question as to their being a distinct breed an open one; since that article was published a more extended experience and the opportunity of making anatomical examinations of very many specimens, have led me to form a decided opinion respecting their origin and true character.