THE AUK: 



A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF 

 ORNITHOLOGY. 





Vol. xxxv. April, l$l&. No. 2. 



" 





TAIL-FEATHERS AND THEIR MAJOR UPPER COVERTS. 



BY HUBERT LYMAN CLARK. 



Recently when examining the pterylosis of a trogon, I noticed 

 that the middle pair of tail-feathers lacked major coverts. This 

 led me to look at several other alcoholic birds and I found that the 

 number and position of the major upper coverts bore a constant 

 relation to the tail feathers. On consulting the literature of the 

 subject, I was surprised to find that the fact had never been 

 recorded, if it had ever been observed. Indeed it is notable how 

 very commonly the tail has been ignored in general works on birds. 

 For example in Beddard's 'Structure and Classification of Birds,' 

 there are sections on bill, feet, wing, etc. but not a line on the tail 

 and in the well-known 'Dictionary of Birds,' there is no article 

 on either "tail" or "coverts"; the article on "rectrices" does not 

 refer to the coverts and the article on "tectrices" assures us that 

 while the wing coverts are of great importance, "the tail coverts 

 need little further attention!" In Coues' famous 'Key to North 

 American Birds,' there is an excellent section on the tail, with an 

 interesting paragraph on the coverts, but the number and position 

 of the major coverts are not mentioned. Even Nitzsch gives no 

 information in regard to the tail coverts and their relation to the 

 rectrices. 



In view of this rather surprising gap in our knowledge, it seemed 

 to me worth while to see what data I could acquire in the small 

 amount of time I could give to the subject. It became clear at 



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