8 INTRODUCTION. 



The popular study of birds being properly that of them 

 when living and in a state of nature, or undomesticated by 

 man, the external parts only are those which chiefly interest 

 the ordinary observer. The common parts of a bird, with 

 their names, are so familiar to every body, that they require 

 no explanation ; but there are a few, upon the variations of 

 which the distinguishing of one bird from another so much 

 depends, that it may be necessary very briefly to glance at 

 them, referring to the systematic works for more minute 

 particulars. 



The cut on the previous page represents a bird which 

 is so rarely seen in this country, that it hardly deserves to be 

 considered as a British bird ; but, as it is one in which me 

 different feathers are very distinct, it answers better for an 

 index to the more remarkable parts than most birds with 

 which we are more familiar. Of course it is possible to re- 

 present only half the surface of a bird by any one figure, and 

 as the back is the most interesting part, and the one nDst 

 generally seen, it is given in preference. 



1. Is the ear-covert, which consists of certain soft feathars 

 that cover the external organ of hearing. They vary c*n- 

 siderably in birds of different species, and on that accouit 

 they are of considerable use as means of distinction. 



2. The scapulars, or feathers which cover the shoulders 

 and shoulder bones, and the places where the humeri, or first 

 bones of the wings, answering to the bones of the human 

 arm above the elbow, are articulated. They unite without 

 much distinction with the common feathers of the back, and 

 also with those of the wings and the sides. The scapular 

 feathers serve only as clothing to the parts which they cover, 

 but they form a thick and comparatively a downy covering, 

 which, while it admits of easy motion, preserves the important 

 joints which it covers from the variations of the weather. 



3. The bastard wing. This consists of a greater or smaller 



