Plumage and its Meaning 



must give a few words to it. These feathers, known as 

 powder-down, are so constructed that at the slightest 

 touch they break up into a fine white powder. This 

 powder-down is to be found on parrots, herons and hawks, 

 and its use is not fully understood. " There is a tradition 

 quite unfounded to the effect that in the heron tribe 

 this powder-down is luminous, and that the birds take 

 advantage of luminosity by raising the contour feathers 

 so as to shed this light on the water wherein they may be 

 fishing, and thereby lure their prey to within striking 

 distance. As these birds do not fish by night, and the 

 glow would be invisible by day, this theory may be 

 regarded as exploded." 



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