SOME SUGGESTIONS FOB BIRD STUDY. 103 



Note next the quill feathers. On the pigeon's wing 

 there are twenty- three. Eleven of these rest upon the 

 hand. They are unsymmetric, the outer web of the vane 

 being narrower than the inner. The remaining twelve are 

 termed secondaries. Their bases are supported by the 

 stronger of the two bones of the lower arm (the ulna). 

 They are mostly symmetrical. 



Lastly, note the lightness of the whole wing. Move the 

 dried expanded wing swiftly through the air and note the 

 resistance given to the stroke. Draw the figure of a wing, 

 with and without the feathers (Figs. 26 and 27). 



Fig. 27. The bones of a bird's wing. 



77, Humerus ; 72, Radius ; 7, Ulna, it supports the secondary quill feathers ; 

 C, Cai-pus, of which there are only two free elements, the remainder having fused 

 with the fingers ; 1, 2, 3, Bones of the fingers. 



LESSON III. Study of a Quill Feather. 



Each pupil should be supplied with a good sized quill 

 feather from a fowl or other large bird. Notes should be 

 made upon its lightness, and any special feature of colour 

 or iridescence. 



Distinguish shaft or central axis and the vane. Draw 

 the shaft, noting the translucent, hollow, more or less 

 cylindrical lower part, the quill ; and the somewhat quadr- 

 angular, tapering, opaque part surrounded by the vane. 

 These facts of shape, etc., should be elicited observationally 

 from the pupils. Let them draw quill and upper shaft in 

 cross section. 



Find next the opening at the base of the quill, through 

 which the nourishment passed to the growing feather (the 



