248 Union Bay 



shiny look to the appearance. This oil did not come from an 

 overpriced and elaborately shaped container but from the 

 bird's own traveling kit— oil sacs located in its back and just 

 in front of the base of the tail. The long bill dipped into this 

 container and then applied the substance bit by bit until 

 every feather in the plumage had been properly treated. 

 Many careful rubbings and feather adjustments accompa- 

 nied the applications so that, before the task was completed, 

 the inevitable confusion that accompanies the break-up of a 

 football game was over and the traffic was almost normal. 



But I was in no huny. I wanted to see the finish of this 

 careful routine which required as much attention as the 

 headdress of an actress but which served so different a pur- 

 pose. The toilet of the human female is primarily for beauty 

 while that of the dowitchers is essentially for utility and is as 

 important for the male as for the female. The necessity for 

 proper care of the bird's plumage cannot be overlooked. 

 Anything that interferes with its functioning may have seri- 

 ous results. Flight depends upon the condition of the feathers 

 and warmth is maintained by the insulating effect of the 

 plumage and of the air cells which are created. The many 

 fuel-oil-soaked birds that I have seen dying upon the beaches 

 have taught me that the bunching of sticky feathers abso- 

 lutely removes this insulation. Without this protection the 

 birds are exposed to the weather with the same consequences 

 that are suffered by a man who has been robbed of his 

 clothes and left to wander in a winter storm. The birds in 

 some manner must have known how necessary this treatment 

 is to survival, for the whole ceremony was performed with 

 the utmost deliberation and care. Every small area was 

 reached by the oil-applying bill and every part was smoothed 

 carefully. Then followed the final polish when the head 

 moved about rapidly and the long bill flew here and there 

 like a fencer's sword with such seeming recklessness that it 

 seemed certain that damage would be done. Gradually the 



