152 ANIMAL SKETCHES. CHAP. 



the mouth. Further back is a large hole which is the ex- 

 ternal orifice of the ear. On his poor bald head, and here 

 and there on his stout little body, are clusters of long down, 

 looking more like fine hair than feathers. The true 

 feathers are only just beginning to sprout, and their 

 arrangement can very readily be traced. From the neck 

 to the root of the tail, where it spreads out, is the spinal 

 tract of the back. On the lower surface two tracts start 

 from the throat and diverge like the limbs of a V. At the 

 sides and in the fork of the V there are featherless 

 spaces. Other tracts are seen on the thighs and on the 

 shoulders. 



The great quill-feathers of the wing are sprouting 

 famously. One can imagine how Mother Book cawed 

 happily over them and rubbed them with her beak, taking 

 that interest in them which a human mother takes in her 

 baby's teeth. On the outer division of the wing, which 

 answers to our hand, there are nine sprouts (with a tenth 

 small sprout near the tip) which will develop into the 

 large primary feathers. And in the next division of the 

 limb, running from the wrist-joint to the elbow-joint, 

 there are also nine sprouts which will become the secondary 

 quills. The so-called tertiaries, between the elbow and 

 the shoulder, are still very small. These budding feathers 

 are to be the main factors of the wing regarded as an 

 organ of flight. No wonder then that Mrs. Rook watches 

 their growth with such interest, or rather would watch 

 their growth with interest if there were reason and under- 

 standing associated with the workings of that corvine 

 brain of hers. She is, however, too simply intelligent to 

 bother her head about the mere beginnings of things. 

 Above the primary and secondary sprouts are the 

 budding feathers of the wing-coverts, which will overlap 

 the bases of the wing-quills. And along the posterior 



