CHAPTER II 



CHARACTERS AND HABITS OF BIRDS RELATED TO USE 



Feathers. The feathers of a bird are the most highly devel- 

 oped form of protective covering in animals, serving other 

 important functions in addition to the primary one. Compared 

 with the hair of a mammal or the scale of a fish or of a reptile, 

 a typical soft feather from the body of a bird is a very complex 

 structure, partaking of the characters of both scales and hair. 

 The fact that birds have scales and hair as well as feathers shows 

 their relation to these other forms of animal covering. This is 

 best observed on a fowl. The legs of a fowl are normally smooth, 

 with scales on the front of the shank and on the upper surfaces 

 of the toes. In feather-legged fowls the feathers appear first 

 along the outer sides of the shanks and toes. As the number of 

 feathers is increased they grow longer and more feathers appear, 

 until in the most heavily feathered specimens the soft skin is 

 covered and the scales are almost hidden. 



The face of a fowl is normally almost bare, the skin being a 

 bright red like the comb and wattles ; but at a distance of a few 

 feet we can usually see some very small, fine feathers on it, and if 

 we examine closely we see in addition still finer growths hairs. 

 Among the body feathers of a fowl, too, are quite long hairs. 

 These are most easily observed after a bird is plucked. They do 

 not come out with the feathers, and are removed by singeing. 



Structure of feathers. The smallest feather that to the naked 

 eye appears as something more complex than a hair, looks like 

 a little bunch of fuzzy filaments. This is called down. 



In the next higher form of feather a small round quill appears 

 with filaments protruding from it like the hairs in an artist's 



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