106 RASORES. SCRAPERS. 



wings are generally concave, short, or of moderate length ; but 

 the tail varies from extremely short to excessively long, and 

 exhibits numerous modifications of form. 



The arrangement of the plumage is as follows : — There are 

 four kinds of feathers : quills, feathers, down-feathers, and hair- 

 feathers. 



The quills, inserted along the posterior edge of the wing 

 vary in number, but are generally twenty-five, ten being pri- 

 mary. Five pollical quills. From twelve to twenty tail- 

 feathers inserted close together, the two middle above the line 

 of the rest. 



The feathers properly so called are inserted on the head all 

 round ; but in many cases there are bare spaces on the head, 

 cheeks, eyebrows, or throat ; on an elevated line along the back 

 of the neck, expanding on the back, and continued to the 

 uropygial gland ; on a similar line down the fore part of the 

 neck, at the middle of which it forks, each division becoming 

 broader as it passes along the side of the breast, where it ter- 

 minates opposite the knee ; from a narrovv^ space near the cen- 

 tre of the thorax and abdomen, on which it terminates before 

 the anus ; on a narrovv^ line coming off from that on the fore- 

 neck, and running along the edge of the wing, then crossing 

 the humerus, and ending on its posterior edge, giving rise to 

 the feathers named scapulars ; on both sides or surfaces of the 

 wing, there being above a band composed of the smaller upper 

 wnng-coverts, and a line of upper large coverts, — below, a nar- 

 rower band of smaller lower coverts, and a line of large lowTr 

 coverts ; on a broad surface from the knee-joint above, laterally 

 to near the rump ; from the w^hole surface of the leg or tibia ; 

 on a small transverse space above, and another below the tail. 

 The ears and anus are also margined with a distinct circle. 



The down-feathers cover the intervals between these feather- 

 ed spaces, and are interspersed among the feathers. All the 

 surfaces from which the feathers com^e off are sparsely covered 

 with very slender hairs, which are penicillate at the tip. or ter- 

 minated by a few short barbs. 



The feathers vary extremely in form and texture, and the 

 plumage of the males is generally more richly coloured, and 



