THE NIGHTJAR. 



CHAPTER II 

 The Birds of the Woods 



Birds form a class of warm-blooded, feathered vertebrates, which lay hard- 

 shelled eggs : they are in most cases endowed with the power of flight, and thus have 

 a certain similarity in their mode of life, and a great general sameness of form 

 which renders their systematic classification difficult. Any classification of birds 

 is indeed almost entirely based on the formation of the foot, the beak, and the 

 wings, if external features alone are dealt with ; and frequently the length and 

 number of certain feathers have to serve as distinguishing marks. 



A few words are necessary with regard to the different types of feathers met 

 with among birds. The pinions or feathers of the wing are the flight-feathers, or 

 rem iges . those of the tail the steering-feathers, or rectrices. Over the remiges come 

 the wing-coverts, and over these the lesser co% r erts ; between the wing and the 

 back are the scapulars ; and at the base of the back come the upper tail-coverts. 

 The wing of a bird, like the fore-limb of a mammal, consists of the shoulder, the 

 upper and lower divisions of the arm, the hand with a thumb and some of the 

 fingers. On the thumb is the small so-called bastard wing, coming just where 

 the wing bends downwards. On the hand are situated the primaries, mostly ten 

 in number, which, when the wings are folded, are covered by the shorter feathers 

 of the lower part of the wing known as the secondaries. 



As regards other external features in a bird, above the beak is the fore- 



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