BLACKBIRD. 285 



between joint and joint ; as also on the thighs and legs : 

 the whole forming a kind of partial coat of mail. As they 

 do not arise from every part of the skin equally, they must 

 be proportionately thick- set where they do arise. 



" The places of origin of feathers are very observable in 

 a bird that has been plucked ; but still more so in young 

 birds just feathering, more especially of such as have but 

 little down, and of which the clumps of feathers, from their 

 colour, as in the young Blackbird, present a great contrast 

 with the skin. 



"In the interstices of the clumps of feathers, there are 

 others disposed irregularly, but so sparingly as not to inter- 

 fere with the motion of the part." 



The four preceding paragraphs from the pen of the great 

 John Hunter, though only given to the world in 1836, and the 

 two following representations of the nestling Blackbird, while 

 assuming its first feathers*, are taken from Prof. Owen's 

 ' Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue of the Physiological 

 Series of Comparative Anatomy, contained in the Museum 

 of the Royal College of Surgeons in London' (iii. part ii. 

 p. 811, pis. xlv., xlvi). 



The upper figure on the next page shews the clumps of 

 young feathers on the side and lower part of the head ; 

 the long clump of feathers down each side of the breast, 

 which, when full grown, cover the lower surface of the 

 body ; the extended line of flight-feathers, partly concealed 

 by the bend of the wing ; and above them the various lower 

 wing-coverts. 



The lower figure shews the long clump of feathers cover- 

 ing the skull, and the whole length of the spinal column ; 



* In 1840 Prof. Burmeister published Nitzsch's work, above mentioned, 

 wherein it was conclusively shewn that the mode in which the clumps of feathers 

 are distributed on the body of birds is very important in revealing the affinities 

 and differences of various groups of species, and consequently affords a set of 

 characters of great use in classification, and to be neglected by no systematist. 

 English ornithologists are or should be deeply indebted to Mr. Sclater, one of the 

 earliest in this country to recognize the value of Nitzsch's labours, for inciting 

 the Ray Society to avail itself of Mr. Dallas's experience and bring out a trans- 

 lation of the work. 



