CLEANLINESS. 9 



fly called zimb *. Be this as it may, we have not ob- 

 served birds, after pulverizing, employed in combing 

 the dust out of their feathers with their bills ; they 

 seem, on the contrary, to prefer its remaining. 



This curious subject may be illustrated by a cir- 

 cumstance observed by the traveller just quoted, in 

 an eagle (Gypaetos barbatus, STORR) which he shot 

 in Abyssinia. " Upon laying hold," says he, " of 

 his monstrous carcass, I was not a little surprised at 

 seeing my hands covered and tinged with yellow 

 powder or dust. On turning him upon his belly 

 and examining the feathers of his back, they also 

 produced a dust, the colour of the feathers there. 

 This dust was not in small quantities ; for, upon 

 striking the breast, the yellow powder flew in full 

 greater quantity than from a hair-dresser's powder- 

 puff. The feathers of the belly and breast, which 

 were of a gold colour, did not appear to have any- 

 thing extraordinary in their formation ; but the large 

 feathers in the shoulder and wings seemed appa- 

 rently to be fine tubes, which, upon pressure, scat- 

 tered this dust upon the finer part of the feather ; 

 but this was brown, the colour of the feathers of the 

 back. Upon the side of the wing, the ribs or hard 

 part of the feathers seemed to be bare, as if worn ; 

 or, I rather think, were renewing themselves, having 

 before failed in their functions. What is the rea- 

 son of this extraordinary provision of nature, it is 

 not in my power to determine. As it is an unusual 

 one, it is probably meant for a defence against the 

 climate, in favour of birds which live in those almost 

 inaccessible heights of a country doomed, even in its 

 lowest parts, to several months' excessive rain I-" A 

 powdering of dust, however, we may remark in 

 reference to this conjecture, would seem to be a bad 

 protection against a heavy shower. 



* Bruce' s Travels. t Travels, Appendix, p. 155. 



