450 Home Nature- Study Course. 



Protection. — The down, next to the bird's body provides warmth, 

 and may be compared to the under flannels which we wear, while the 

 smooth, outer feathers may be compared to a rain coat (" Story of the 

 Birds," p. 29). A breast feather shows both of these uses; it is fluffy 

 at the base which is near to the body of the bird, and smoothly webbed 

 at the tip where it overlaps another feather like shingles on a roof, thus 

 helping to shed rain. Note how smoothly the feathers overlap on breast 

 and back. Note how a hen looks after being out in a rain, note how 

 the outer parts of the feathers are arranged to shed the water. The 

 pupils should see what parts of the body are most covered with down, 

 and should note that these are the parts that would be exposed to the 

 cold (Jenkins and Kellogg, p. 141). 



The care given to its plumage by the bird. — The following observa- 

 tions should be made on the way fowls oil their feathers: (a) The 

 position of the gland ; this may be seen on the plucked fowls in the 

 market, (b) How the fowl extracts the oil by squeezing the gland with 

 its beak, (c) How the oil is applied to the back and breast, (d) Induce 

 the pupil to note if there are any feathers on the body not oiled, (e) Is 

 it true that hens oil their feathers before storms ? 



Another lesson should be given on the sun bath and the dust bath, 

 these two being often combined. The points for observation should be : 



(a) How the fowl lifts the feathers so that the sun may reach the body. 



(b) How she turns from side to side., (c) When ducks take sun baths 

 they turn their feet bottomside up, which is a good lesson on the value 

 of sunshine as a destroyer of microbes, (d) What sort of soil the fowl 

 chooses for the dust bath, (e) How does it manage to get the dust 

 thoroughly into the feathers? This study should be followed by a talk 

 from the teacher as to the uses of the dust and the sun in freeing the 

 fowls from the insect parasites. These are among the greatest pests 

 to the chicken raiser, and it would be well to explain to the pupils how 

 cleanliness and the white-washing of the walls and perches of chicken 

 houses are necessary to keep the birds healthy and free from such pests. 



LESSON II. 



THE USE OF FEATHERS IiNT FLIGHT. 



Purpose. — (a) To teach that the bird flies by pressing down upon 

 the air with its wings, (b) To show the bird's most obvious adaptations 

 for flying, (c) To suggest the reason a bird needs to fly. (d) To 

 develop in the pupils the habit of observing the flight of birds. 



Tile bird flics by lifting itself through pressing down upon the air 

 with its wings. There are several experiments which are needed to get 



