40 The Bird 



is provided with a thick, callous pad, which, by constant 

 use, is thus kept bare of feathers. In addition, the under 

 sides of the degenerate wings are also free of plumage, 

 owing no doubt to the continual close application of 

 these organs to the sides of the body. The other bare 

 areas are almost obliterated, but the legs are bare, thus 

 allowing perfect freedom in action. 



Some birds, such as vultures and cassowaries, have lost 

 all feathers on the head and neck, or other portions of 

 the body, from various causes, as for cleanliness, or, in 

 some cases, probably for ornament. This will be spoken 

 of more in detail in a later chapter. 



Moult 



The waste of internal tissues and organs in animals 

 is repaired by means of the blood which brings them 

 fresh material and carries away worn-out cells, as it 

 traverses arteries and veins. Entire parts, as the tails of 

 tadpoles, may even be absorbed; but, in general, skin 

 structures when old and worn out are cast off and renewed 

 from the lower, or derm, layer. This takes place in various 

 ways. The skin, even to the covering of the eyeballs, 

 may come off entire, as is the case among snakes, or por- 

 tions peel off and tear away, as in lizards. Warm-blooded 

 animals also shed, or cast, their outside covering; mam- 

 mals shedding their coats of hair, and birds their feathers. 

 In the latter class this process is called moulting. 



The nestling dow^i and the feather which replaces it 

 can hardly be considered as separate structures, as the 



