18 OUR FEATHERED FRIENDS. 
CHARTER: 
HOW MADAM BIRD COMBS HER HAIR. 
MADAM BirD is not able to smooth her head-dress 
with her bill. What does she do about it? Why, she 
uses her foot, which serves also as her hand. 
Birds are either-handed; that is, they can use the 
left hand or foot as well as the right. Some people 
think that a parrot is left-handed, because she always 
takes in her left hand the cracker or sugar which you 
offer to her. The next time you feed her, stop and see 
what you are doing. You are standing in front of the 
bird and offering her the cracker in your right hand. 
She is facing you, and of course takes the food with 
her left hand. Everybody gives her things in the same 
way, and she naturally uses her left hand, because we 
teach her to do so. 
But wild birds are either handed. Watch and see 
how they comb their hair, first on one side and then on 
the other, scratching very fast, as if to get all the tan- 
gles out, but never crying, “Oh, don’t!” when it 
pulls. We call the fine feathers “hair,” because they 
grow on the bird’s head as our hair does on our 
own. 
See how Mrs. Bird lifts her crown and separates the 
soft feathers, and fixes her frizzes or bangs, if she wears 
them. After she has combed her hair this way long 
