GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 



117 



Fig. 87. 



Occiput . 

 Parotic region- 

 Nape 



Tertiaries . 



Secondaries 



Primaries . 



Low. coverts 



Tail ^k 



Thumb 



- Crown. 



Forehead. 

 ..Nasal fossa. 

 Up. mandible 

 Lower " 

 Throat. 



Fore neck. 



Interior toe. 

 Middle " 

 Exterior " 



Showing the names of some of the principal parts of a Bird. 



arm, secondaries ; to the humerus, tertiaries. Ranges of 

 shorter feathers cover the base of the quills above and 

 below, and are called coverts. The feathers that grow 

 from the shoulder are called scapulars ; those from the 

 thumb, spurious quills. The bony part of the tail is very 

 short, but, like the wings, has a range of long quills, with 

 upper and lower coverts, which serve both for ornament, 

 and to aid in supporting the animal in the air. Both the 

 quills and feathers consist of two parts, the shaft and the 

 vane ; the former is the axis, and the latter the expanded 

 portion. The vane consists of laminae, which are con- 

 nected by minute barbs along their edges, and thus ren- 

 dered firm to resist the air. There are, however, on 

 every bird downy feathers, or such as do not have the 

 laminae united. The feathers of Birds do not grow from 

 the entire surface of the body, but are symmetrically and 

 systematically arranged in rows and patches, with bare 

 intervening spaces ; and the arrangement is different in 

 different groups, and may yet be made an important ele- 

 ment in classification. The hind locomotive members 



