174 



BIRD WORLD. 



Did you know that hair and nails were really pieces 

 of a very peculiar skin, nothing more ? They grow 

 from the skin, and though they seem so different, they 



Fig. 34. — Wing of Barn Swallow. 



are really made of the same material. So with birds' 

 feathers. They look first like little pimples in the 

 bird's skin ; out of this the feather pushes and grows 

 till it reaches its proper size. When the feathers are 

 worn by winds and by the twigs of trees, the new 



Fig. 35. — Wing of Grouse. 



feather pushes up through the skin, and the old 

 feather falls out. 



The little barbs at the tips of the smaller feathers 

 give the color to the bird, the lower parts of the 



