108 LABORATORY EXERCISES 



c. What is the scientific name of the chicken bone that we 

 commonly call the "drumstick"? See Fig. 269. What is the 

 bone of the "second joint"? Compare these with the corre- 

 sponding bones in the human skeleton. See Fig. 275, 354, 

 text. What bones are in the foot of the bird? If possible, 

 study the leg bones of a duck and a turkey, and compare them 

 with those of a chicken. 



Compare the bones of a bird's wing with those of your own 

 arm and hand. What bones of the wing bear the feathers 

 most needed for flight? Do these correspond to the bones of 

 the upper arm, lower arm, or hand? 



d. Get a large wing feather, also a small contour feather, or 

 body feather, of the chicken, duck, pigeon, goose, and turkey. 

 Examine the quill of each feather, and describe it. Is it hollow 

 or solid? Is the axis, or central part, hollow all the way? 



The outspread part of the feather is called the vane. The 

 parallel rows that make up the vane are the barbs. Which 

 feathers have the barbs joined together? Which ones have 

 them separate? Which class of birds would need to have 

 the barbs joined, flying birds or walking birds? Why? 



e. Examine the eye of a living chicken; how many eyelids 

 has it? The extra one is the nictitating membrane; in what 

 direction is it moved across the eye? 



/. At home or in the meat market have a chicken gizzard cut 

 open for you. What materials do you find inside it? Why 

 does the fowl eat such things? Note the tough, rough, inside 

 covering. What is its use? Note the thick muscular walls; 

 why are they needed? Why does a bird need no teeth? 



g. Are any birds harmful to man? Give examples. Do 

 these birds make up in any way for the harm they do? Why 

 is it important that a farmer should know the birds on his 

 farm, and their habits? Send for Farmers' Bulletin No. 630, 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington. 



