STRUCTURE OF BIRDS. 



523 



no bony union of the two pubic bones, nor do the ischia 

 unite with the sacrum or each other, except in Rhea. In the 

 . ostrich, the pubic bones are soli-ily united. The hind Hmbs 

 (Fig. 456) are two, three, or four toed, the ostrich having 

 but two digits ; in most four-toed birds, one toe (the hallux) 

 is directed backwards, while in the parrots and trogons, 

 etc., there are two toes in front and two toes behind, and 

 in the swifts and certain other forms all 

 four toes are turned forwards. The bones of 

 the skeleton are dense and hard ; both the 

 long bones and the bones of the skull are 

 commonly hollow, containing air; the air-sacs, 

 in connection with the lungs, communicating 

 with the hollows of the bone. In some birds 

 which fly well, only the skull-bones have air- 

 cells, while in the ostrich which is unable to 

 fly, the bones have even a greater number of 

 cavities than the gull. The body during 

 flight is thus greatly lightened, and the bird 

 can sustain itself in the air for many hours in 

 succession. 



With all these characters, the most re- 

 markable and diagnostic external feature is 

 the presence of feathers; no reptile on the 

 one hand, or mammal on the other, is clothed 

 with feathers, though the scales on the legs 

 and feet of birds are like those of reptiles, 

 and it should be borne in mind that feathers 

 are fundamentally modified scales or hairs. 

 The ordinary feathers are called pennse or atarsusic', the same 



, ,1 ,1 1 , . , ,, . piece iBolated, and 



contour feathers ; as they determine by their seen from in - 



dW ii"d"' t 



arrangement the outline of the body. They 

 are, like hairs, developed in sacs in the skin ; 

 the quill is hollow, partly imbedded in the derm ; this merges 

 into the shaft, leaving the outgrowths on each side called harhs, 

 which send off secondary processes called lariules. These 

 tertiary processes (called barbules and booklets) are com- 

 monly serrated, and end in little books by which the bar- 

 bules interlock. Down is formed of feathers with soft. 



Fig. 456. — Hind 

 limb of a Hawk, 

 Buteo vulgaris, a, 

 femur ; d, tibia ; 6', 

 fibula; c, tarso-met- 



front ; 

 the four 

 toea. — After Gegen- 

 baur. 



