266 



The Bird 



body and which, when it flies, blows back between its 

 feet. The filament of feathers looks for all the world 

 as if a strip of the bird's plumage had caught on a thorn 

 and torn loose. The core of the streamer is a very slender 



Fig. 208.— Umbrella-bird. 



ribbon of skin which hangs from the neck. Would that 

 we could state the causes and the manner of the devel- 

 opment of these curious structures which our fancy likens 

 to an umbrella and a feathery handle! 



One or two small tufts of feathers may spring from 



