BIRDS OF KANSAS. 



THE PLUMAGE. 



In the spring a fuller crimson comes upon the robin's breast ; 

 In the spring the wanton lapwing gets himself another crest ; 

 In the spring a livelier iris changes on the burnished dove. 



Tennyson. 



The eye never tires of watching the easy, graceful flight 

 of the bird as it makes a trackless path in the air, some- 

 times far above the hills and valleys, as the hawk or 

 eagle, having always before it a view, magnificent. No 

 other animal that flies does so by any such apparatus 

 as the bird employs. Flight in the bird is made pos- 

 sible by means of outgrowths of the skin the feathers. 

 When they are removed from a wing it looks more like 

 an arm than an organ of flight, and, indeed, it is but the 

 fore-limb of the bird, and is almost like the arm of 

 man. The wing of a chicken, as it appears on the 

 table, affords an excellent opportunity for comparison. 

 .The feathers that grow on the wing convert it into a 

 more useful instrument than an arm would be in the 

 life of a bird. The large feathers of the wing have a 

 wider web on the inner side of the shaft than on the 

 outer. This is because the inner web underlies the next 

 inner feather and gives a firm resisting surface against 

 which the air reacts to support the bird in the air. The 

 webs of the large, strong feathers of the wing and tail can 

 be separated into many small, thread-like parts (barbs) 

 (9) 



