THE FEATHER MAN 237 



with their bills, and some, such as the Night-jar 

 and Heron, have a toothed or serrated structure on 

 the third claw. If a feather is very badly torn, 

 as sometimes happens after a fight, it becomes be- 

 yond the power of the bird to repair it, and the 

 bird is thereby handicapped until the next molt 

 gives it a set of new feathers again. 



''Many of the bright-plumed birds, such as the 

 Birds-of-Paradise, show a conscious interest in 

 their toilet, devoting more time to such feathers 

 as serve the purposes of adornment than they do 

 to the contour feathers. But, perhaps, the most 

 curious habit among such birds is that of the Mot- 

 mot, a Mexican bird, which deliberately amputates 

 a section of vane on both sides of the quills of its 

 two tail-feathers, in order to give the tail an 

 artificial racket-shape. This done, the Mot-mot 

 seems proud of his disfigurement and will sit for 

 as long as an hour at rest on a branch, swinging 

 his tail from side to side like the pendulum of a 

 clock. 



''You've heard the whistling of a Woodcock's 

 wings, I suppose, when he's flying?" came the nest 

 query. 



"No, sir," the boy answered, "but I've heard 

 Bull speak of it." 



