(/llAl'Tl-K \'. 



THE W()NJ)E11S OF FEATHKllS AND FEHiHT. 



Miiu'a Attcmpt.s to Fly— A Fciithcr under the Microscope— Slages of 

 Growth— I'eathcrs of a Common Curlew— How Feathers are 

 Adapted to the Habits of Birds— Why the Gannet is not Harmed 

 when it Falls upon Water— Tail Fcatliers : Effects of Use 

 and Disuse— Difierence between an Owl's and a Wood Pigeon's 

 Feathers- The Trouble Uirds take with their Feathers— Moulting, 

 Complete and 1 artial— A Thing that is licst Done when Half 

 Done— Birds that Wear Stockings in Winter— Shape of Fiiglit 

 Feathers— Shapes and Si/es of Wings — Kates at whicli Diflcrtnt 

 Species ]Jeat their Wings— How Birds use the Wind to Fly 

 Upwards— Shapes their Wings Assume in Flight — How the y 

 Alight— The Tail Feathf rs— Noises Made by Wings— Wondiis 

 of r>ird ^Migration, 



Of all the faciiltias possessed by the wild creatures 

 of the carlli, none has ever been cnvird half so 

 much bv man as a bird's power of thirht. Even the 

 Psalmist of old sighed after '• tlu' win,L:s of a dove," 

 m order that he mijj^ht tly away to more peaceful 

 reahns, and since his day millions of human hearts 

 have longed madly for the same swift and pleasant 

 means of transport from place to place. 



I have asked lots of boys and girls what they 

 would like to l)e supposing they were not human 

 beings, and nearly all of tiiem answer "A bird." 

 xVnd when I inquire "Why?" they say, "So thai 1 



