Tails 



425 



tail-feathers have grown beyond the others, instinctively 

 begin to pick at the vane, soon denuding the shaft so 

 symmetrically that the rackets are equal in size. The 



Fig. 341. — Motniot swinging its tail. 



photographs show this perfectly. Figure a is the tail 

 of a young male where the operation of ornamental de- 

 nudation has just begun; while b shows the condition 

 in an adult female. The photograph of the entire liv- 

 ing bird also shows the rackets, as well as the peculiar 

 pendulum motion of the tail from side to side, although 



