Feathers axd Flight. 



141 



Foft down feathers similar to the small one shown 



on page 137. These are really only the temporary 



tips of proper feathers which are growing directly 



beneath them, and which, as they mature, ]nish 



the down feathers iip- 



war<ls and further and 



further away from the 



skin of the chick. The 



same picture shows a 



proper feather, with its 



surmounting down still 



adhering to its tip. and 



the young Chatliii<li 



on pa'.,^e 1*)!) illustrates 

 the grotesipie effect 

 caused by this peculiar 

 continuity of growth. 

 The (low 11 f ca t hers 

 gradujdly wear off the 

 tips of the proper ones, 

 never to appear again. 

 Chicks in down, and 



also in their tirst dress of feathers, are often clothed 

 for concealment. Young Common Gidls, whilst sit- 

 ting (piite still, look like little patches of chequered 

 sunshine, and a baby llobin with its brown instead 

 of sc;>rlet breast is not nearly so easy to see in a 

 hedgerow as its parents. A curious thing about the 

 tirst c.iat of proper feathers is that in some species 

 they difier in shape from those that follow them. 



V(jLN(i uor.iv. 



