I. THE ROBIN. 31 



after a certain number of revolutions the hair- 

 brush will fall in love w^ith the whistle ; they 

 will marry, lay an egg, and the produce will be 

 ^'nightingale. 



30. Whether, however, a hog's bristle can 

 turn into a feather or not, it is vital that 3^ou 

 should know the present difference between 

 them. 



The scientific people will tell 3^ou that a 

 featljer is composed of three parts — the down, 

 the laminae, and the shaft. 



But the common-sense method of stating the 

 matter is that a feather is composed of two 

 parts, a shaft with lateral filaments. For the 

 greater part of the shaft's length, these fila- 

 ments are strong and nearly straight, forming, 

 by their attachment, a finely warped sail, like 

 that of a windmill. But towards the root of 

 the feather they suddenly become weak, and 

 confusedly flexible, and form the close down 

 which immediately protects the bird's body. 



To show you the typical arrangement of 

 these parts, I choose, as I have said, the 

 robin ; because, both in his power of flying, 

 and in his colour, he is a moderate and 

 balanced bird ■, — not turned into nothing but 



