EXTEMNAL PAETtJ OF BIRDS. — THE WINGS. 113 



meet a reentrant angle in the general contour of tlie jiosterior bonier of the wing ; the feather 

 that occupies this notch is the one we are after, and milucliily it is sometimes last iirin]ary, 

 sometimes first secondary. But observe that primaries are so to speak, xelf-asserlijif), einplmtic, 

 italicised, remiges, still', strcjng, and obstinate; while secondaries are retiring, iehi!<peri}iy, in 

 brevier, limber, weak, and yielding. Tlieir dift'erent character is almost always sliown Ijy 

 something in their shape or texture which the student will sotjii learn to recognize, tliough it 

 cannot well be described. Let him examine fig. 3U, where l> marks the nine primaries of a 

 sparrow's wing, and s indicates the secondaries; lie will see a difference at once. The 

 primaries express thems(dves, though with diminishing emphasis, to the last one ; then the 

 secondaries begin to tcdl a difi'erent tale. Among North American birds the only ones with 

 NINE primaries are the families Mutacilliche, Vireoiiidcc, Coeretjidce, Si/lvicoUdce, Hinmdinida: , 

 Taiiagridtx, FriiigiUidie, Icteridcc, part of Vireoitidice, and the genus Anipelis. The condition 

 of the first primary, whether spurious or not, is often of great help in this detcrnunation. 

 The first primary is called ''spurious" when it is very short — say one third, or less, as hnig 

 as the second, or longest, jiriuniry. Among I'asseres, a spurious first primary only occurs in 

 certain ten-primaried Oscines : whence it is evident, tlnit to find such short first prinuiry is 

 e([uivalent to determining the presence of ten primaries, though not to find it does not prove 

 there are only nine ; the count should be nuide in all cases in which the outer primary is more 

 tlian one-third as long as tlie next. The difl'erence bet\veen nine primaries, and ten \\'ith the 

 first spurious, is excellently illustrated aiuong the species of ]'ireo. Any thrush, imthatch, 

 titmouse, or creeper shows a spurious primary to advantage, — hyge enougli not to be over- 

 looked, small enougli not to be mistaken. 



The Seeoudarles (Fig. 30, s] are those remiges whicli are seated on ttie fore-arm (fig. 

 ■27, B to C). They vary in number from six to forty or more. They have the peculiarity of 

 being attached to one of the bones of the fore-arm, the 

 ulna. If an ulna be examined closely, there will be 

 seen a row of little i>oiuts showing the attachuient ; 



such are indicated in fig. 37, along ul, and in fig. 31. 



'- ^ Fio. .31. — Ulnii of <'o!np1ifs inexicanii^. 



The secondaries present no points necessary to dwell sliowiug imints of attacluocnt of tbe second- 

 upon here, after what has been said of the primaries. ''™s- (Dr. R. W. Slmfel.U, n. s. A.) 

 They are enormously developed in the Argus pheasant, and have curious shapes in some other 

 exotic birds. They are often long enough to cover tlii' iirimaries completely when the wing is 

 (dosed, as in grebes ; on the other hand, they are exti'emely short in the swifts and hnmming- 

 birds. 



The Tertiaries (Fig. 30, t) are properly the remiges which grow upon the upper arm, 

 humerus, liut such feathers are not very evident in most birds, and the two or three inner- 

 most secondaries, growing u]iou the very elbow, and coiiiiuoidy different from the rest in form 

 or color, pass under the name of " tertiaries." Again, in some cases, scapular feathers 

 (fig. 30, !^cp,) are called tertiaries, esjiecially when long or otherwise conspicuous. But 

 there is an evident and proper distinction. Scapulars belong to the p)teryla hiimeratis (see 

 p. 87) ; while tertiaries, wliether seated on the idbow or higher up the arm, are the innermost 

 remiges (ji tho piteryla alwris. These inner remiges are often shortly called fertials ; though 

 the longer name is more correct, besides being conformalde with the names of the other two 

 series of remiges. Tertiaries often atford good characters for descri]ition, in peculiarities of 

 their size, shape, or color. Thus it is very common among Fringillidre for these feathers to bc^ 

 jiarti-colored differently from the other remiges. In many birds they are long and "flowing"; 

 as in the families MotacilUdce and Alaudidce, whi^re tliey reach about to the end of the 

 primaries when the wing is closed. Their devehipment is shnilar in many Scolopacidce. In 



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