WHAT BIRDS CARRY IN THEIR POCKETS. 25 
Mr. Owl knows how to wrap himself up. Besides, 
with these thick, soft feathers he can fly after his prey 
without making any noise. 
A bird’s shoes and stockings are strong and never 
seem to wear out. If they become worn, they are 
mended so quickly you never know the difference. 
The foot and leg are covered with scales, like the 
scales on a lizard. 
Birds and lizards are much alike; in fact, they are 
a sort of cousin or distant relative, so that they dress 
alike in the matter of shoes and stockings. Only the 
lizard wears scales all over, while a bird wears them 
only for shoes and stockings. The bird has found out 
that feathers are better for flying in the air, while the 
lizard, crawling as he always does, is perfectly happy 
with only scales for clothes. 
All birds, big and little, wear warm, fleecy under- 
clothes, better and softer than flannel. You can see 
bits of these underclothes at the bottoms of the knee 
trousers or dresses, or, if you happen to be holding a 
bird in your hand, you can part the outer clothes and 
see and feel the delicate down. Sometimes, when a 
bird ruffles his outer garments in washing himself, the 
soft warm underclothes are in plain sight. 
Birds never use complexion powders; that, no doubt, 
would seem very vulgar to them. But they do use hair 
oil every day. They carry this mixture about with 
them in their pockets. By pockets we mean little 
pouches or sacks which always lie on the back, near the 
