The Breath of a Bird 169 



is common to all l)ircl,s) the trachea apj)ears lo he coin- 

 poaed of alternating half-rings, hut when elongated 

 these are seen lo he complete, the illusion heing |)ro- 

 chiced hy the overlapping of half of each ring hy an ecjual 

 part of the rings on each side, \\dien the (racliea is ex- 

 tended, the only hint of this clever device is a small notch 

 on the sides of e\ery ring. The illustration demonstrates 

 the working l)etter than any description. 



Nature is ingenious hut not perfect, as is seen even 

 in the inch of Flamingo's trachea which I ha\e utilized 

 for illustration and description. Two of the rings do not 

 ''jihe" on one of their sides, and overlap the wrong way, 

 but the loss in motion is infinitesimal, the defect being 

 hardly noticeable e\en wlien the rings are bent into a 

 semicircle. 



In a very young English Sparrow there are al)Out 

 fifty rings around the trachea, aj)|)earing to he of a more 

 cartilaginous nature than those of the flamingo. This 

 latter long-necked bird has no less tlian four hundred and 

 fifty rings. 



In some members of the Class of amphibians (frogs, 

 toads, and newts) the trachea is supported l)y small ir- 

 regular pieces of cartilage, tending in the higher forms 

 toward ringed areas. Among reptiles an intermediate 

 condition exists, complete rings being present, but of 

 cartilage instead of l)one. 



The wonderfvd music of birds is produced in a rela- 

 tively small area, known as the syrinx. Tliis organ is 

 situated at the point where the trachea divides into the 

 two bronchi. The latter arise as if by a splitting of the 



