4O About the Feathered Folk. 



But a simpler way of looking at 

 them 'will content most people. 

 Let us borrow two feathers from 

 Jenny's Brown Gown, and see what 

 they can tell us. 



This stiff one is from the wing ; 

 it has come from near the end of 

 the pinion, as one can tell from its 

 structure. The feathers of a bird's 

 wing are divided into three groups, 

 according to the three wing-bones 

 upon which they are placed. The 

 stiffest and strongest grow on the 

 tip of the wings, for in flight these 

 have the hardest work to do, and 

 must necessarily cover more dis- 

 tance, and move more quickly than 

 the softer, more yielding ones which 

 grow upon that part of the wing 

 which is close to the bird's body. 



The wing itself is hard and stiff 

 along its forward edge, soft and 

 yielding along the posterior margin. 

 It is formed to strike and cut the 

 air in flight, and also to allow 1he 



