20 



GENERAL DEFINITIONS. 



remaining much smaller ones, in several rows, are col- 

 lectively called lesser coverts. None of these feathers 

 are to be confounded with those protecting the bases 

 of the primary quills. The large feathers of the wings 

 are collectively known as the remigcs. 



The Tail. This member consists of several large 

 feathers, inserted, like the rays of a fan, upon the 

 coccyx, or rump. The bones of this part of the spinal 

 column protrude but little from the body, the oppo- 



FIG. 6. DIAGRAM OF SHAPES OF TAILS, adc, rounded; aec, graduate; aic, 

 cuneate-graduate ; a I c, cuneate ; a b c, double- rounded ; f e g, square ; fh g, emar- 

 ginate ; fn e o g t double emarginate ; k i m, forked ; k e m-> deeply forked ; k o m, 

 forfkate. 



site of their condition among quadrupeds, and the 

 last one is peculiarly enlarged and modified in shape, 

 to support the feathers. These are called the rectriccs ; 

 they are usually large and stout, like the remiges of the 

 wings, and their bases are protected above and below 

 by smaller feathers, the upper and under tail-coverts, 

 or tectrices. The shapes, and especially the relative 

 lengths, of these large feathers, as in the case of the 

 corresponding ones of the wings, affect the form of 

 the tail as a whole, and give rise to many descriptive 

 terms. 



