238 MR. J. T. CUNNINGHAM ON [Mar. 17, 
and the end of the sheath is quite soft and exudes a little blood 
and moisture when pressed. This feather was 52°8 cm. or about 
1 ft. 9in. long. It was one of the anterior tail-coverts, and was 
the only feather ever pulled out of Cock A. 
Feb. 11th. Age 8 months nearly.—On this date, when I was 
stroking the feathers of Cock B, another came out. It was one 
of the anterior lateral coverts of the right side, and its length was 
152 inches (38 cm.). The feather had not ceased growing, but 
showed signs that it was about to cease, as the rhachis at the base 
was stout and thick, and the barbs emerging from the sheath were 
free and downy, as they are at the base of a full-grown feather, 
and never at its more distal part 
Feb. 14th.—Examined the bases of the feathers in both cocks. 
In A the central rectrices had nearly or quite ceased growing, and 
also nearly all the tail-coverts, only two or three still showing the 
basal sheaths. In B two or three of the posterior coverts had 
ceased growing on each side, but a number of the others still 
showed vigorous growth. 
Feb. 15th.—The longest feather in Cock B came out when I 
was stroking the feathers, though I was not pulling at all hard. 
The feather was the central rectrix of the left side, and was in 
growing condition, with bluish pulpy sheath at the base. It came 
clear out of the socket and was not broken off at all. The extreme 
length was 2 ft. 44 in., but about 1 inch of this was in the socket 
before it was pulled out. The total length of the sheath up to 
the point where the feather proper emerged was 3} inches (8 cm.). 
Feb. 16th.—Ascertained that in Cock B three tail-coverts on the 
right side had ceased growing and two on the left. The 2nd 
rectrix on right side had ceased to grow, that on the left nearly so. 
In Cock A the 2nd pair of rectrices had ceased growing, the 
1st or central pair had nearly ceased. Two central coverts, which 
were nearly as long as the central rectrices, had nearly ceased, and 
there were only two others on each side with growth-sheaths. 
There were two rows of coverts in front of the rectrices, anterior 
and posterior, with four or five feathers in each row on each side. 
When the feathers are specified individually they are counted from 
the middle line. 
Feb. 17th.—One of the posterior lateral coverts on right side in 
Cock B was pulled out today. I was really trying to see if it 
would come out when pulled, as it had completely ceased to grow. 
T found that it required much more force to pull it out than is 
required in the case of a growing feather. The quill was com- 
pletely formed. It was evident that the attachment of the feathers 
was most feeble when growth was ceasing, not when the feather was 
growing vigorously ; while after the quill was completely formed, 
the feather was very firmly held in the socket. The feather was 
192 inches long. 
March 2nd.—In Cock B another feather was unintentionally 
pulled out. It was in full growth, and was one of the lateral 
anterior coverts on the right side. Total length 163 inches. 
