92 THE LOG OF THE SUN 



the others, in the woodcock are very stiff, and 

 the vanes are so narrow that when the wing is 

 spread there is a wide space between each one. 

 When the wing beats the air rapidly, the wind 

 rushes through these feather slits, and we have 

 the accompaniment of the love-song explained. 



The feather-covered arms and hands of birds 

 are full of interest ; and after studying the wing 

 of a chicken which has been plucked for the table, 

 we shall realise how wonderful a transformation 

 has taken place through the millions of years past. 

 Only three stubby fingers are left and these are 

 stiff and almost immovable, but the rest of the 

 forearm is very like that of our own arm. 



See how many facts we can accumulate about 

 wings, by giving special attention to them, when 

 watching birds fly across the sky. How easy it 

 is to identify the steady beats of a crow, or the 

 more rapid strokes of a duck; how distinctive is 

 the frequent looping flight of a goldfinch, or the 

 longer, more direct swings of a woodpecker ! 



Hardly any two birds have wings exactly 

 similar in shape, every wing being exquisitely 

 adapted to its owner's needs. The gull soars or 

 flaps slowly on his long, narrow, tireless pinions, 

 while the quail rises suddenly before us on short, 

 rounded wings, which carry it like a rocket for a 

 short distance, when it settles quickly to earth 

 again. The gull would fare ill were it compelled 

 to traverse the ocean with such brief spurts of 



