64 



THE FEATHERS. 



yield no resistance. The fibres of the downy part, we see, 

 have little connection with each other ; they have short and 

 loose side shoots, just sufficient to mat them together when 

 pressed close to the skin ; whereas, the side shoots of the quill- 

 feather hook and grapple with one another, so as to make 

 one firm and united surface. Some idea of this may be 

 formed from the annexed figures, the second of which repre- 

 sents a piece of the finest down magnified. 



But others there are, much stronger and stiffer than the 

 wing quill-feathers ; as those, for instance, forming the tails of 

 the Woodpecker tribe. And the reason would be evident to 

 any person who watched a Woodpecker on the stem of a tree 

 feeding. Its food consists of grubs, usually concealed in the 

 wood. In order to get them, he must therefore remain fixed 

 on the bark, and make a hole with his beak, a tedious, if not 



