116 HOW HE IS MADE 
for ornament, and there are many kinds among 
birds, all exquisitely beautiful. Nature has given 
to birds a more wonderful dress than to any 
other living creature. 
It is with his feathers that a bird expresses his 
feelings. In anger he fluffs them out till he 
looks twice as big as usual; we have all seen a 
hen bristle up when a dog comes near her brood. 
Nervousness or excitement is shown by jerk- 
ing the wings and tail, and if a bird wishes to 
escape notice, he can make his plumage a perfect 
disguise. Mr. Bolles’s pet owl would stretch 
himself up long and slim, with feathers hugging 
his body, when he looked so much like a broken 
branch of a tree that Mr. Bolles could hardly 
see him. And another owl that I heard of, when 
he was on the ground, would flatten himself and 
spread his plumage around, so that the eye could 
scarcely separate him from the dead leaves about 
him. 
No one takes better care of his dress than a 
bird, and that is why it looks well for a year. 
Every day, with most birds, it 1s washed and care- 
fully dried, each feather being passed through 
the bill, and the whole thoroughly shaken out. 
At night one may often see robins and catbirds 
before going to bed, dressing their plumage 
and shaking off the day’s dust. 
