10 STORIES OF BIRDS AND BEASTS 



the dead White-throated Sparrow from the table, and 

 began to walk about the room, stopping now in front 

 of the fire and then by the window. 



" Here is a Sparrow, different from every other kind 

 of Sparrow, different indeed from any other sort of 

 bird in the world else it would not be the particu- 

 lar sort of a Sparrow called the White-throated. But 

 there are a good many things that it has in common 

 with all other birds. Can you tell me some of them ? " 



"I know ! " said Dodo ; "it has a good many feathers 

 on it, and I guess all kinds of birds wear feathers, ex- 

 cept some when they are very little in the nest." 



" Quite right, little girl," said the Doctor. " Every 

 bird has feathers, and no other animal has feathers. 

 So we say, 'A bird is known by its feathers.' But 

 what do you suppose its feathers are for ? " 



" To make it look nice and pretty," said Dodo 

 promptly. 



" To make it lighter, so's it can fly," added Nat. 



" To keep it warm, too, I guess," was Rap's answer. 



" Well, you are all three partly, but not quite, right. 

 Certainly the beauty of a bird depends most on its 

 feathers, being not even skin-deep, as you may well 

 believe, if you ever noticed a chicken Mammy Bun 

 had plucked. But, Nat, how can feathers make a bird 

 lighter, when every one of them weighs something, 

 and a bird has to carry them all ? They make a bird a 

 little heavier than it would be without them. Yet it 

 is quite true that no bird could fly if you clipped its 

 wings. So some of its feathers enable it to fly the 

 large ones, that grow on 4 he wings. Then, too, the 

 large ones that make the tail help the bird to fly, by 



