3/0 



Bulletin 258. 



chick grows older, so that, at the age of four or five weeks, they have 

 grown together, and the healthy chick looks to be well feathered (Fig. 9). 

 The wings and . 



° a b c 



back are covered, 

 the feathers grow- 

 ing well up the 

 back of the head, 

 and the breast is 

 protected except a 

 small space over 

 the crop. The 

 rear of the body is 

 covered by the 

 flights, the feathers 

 on the thighs, and 

 a tuft near the rear 

 of the keel bone. 

 The legs are en- 

 circled by a ring 

 of feathers just 

 above the shank. 

 In a word, the 

 chick's body is 

 protected by its 

 feathers at every 

 vital point (Figs. 

 5. 6, 7- 9)- 



The chick feathers 

 are molted. 



gen- 



It is not 

 erally known 

 whether the chick 

 feathers grow 

 larger with the 

 chick's develop- 

 ment or whether 

 they are replaced 



by new ones; therefore, an effort was made to determine this point. A 

 number of chicks, just from the incubator, were leg-banded and their 

 down stained. These chicks were inspected daily for several weeks, 



Fig. 5. — Feather tracts in White Leghorn chick 4 

 weeks old. — Front view: a, keel; b, throat; c, breast; 

 d, flight-coverts; e, flights; /, leg; g, fluff; h, shank. 



