AVING-COVEUTS AXlJ KEMIGES. 33 



importimt :is it is in a morplio logical point of view, it is talcen into little 

 account in practical oi-nithology, unless when largely modified in form, con- 

 spicuous in color, or laearing special organs, as claws, spurs, etc. It 

 strengthens, and defends, and adds to the symmetry of the anterior outer 

 border of the -^ving. (The student must carefully distinguish the use of 

 the word sjnirlous in this connection from its a^jplication to a certain state 

 of the first primary — see § (32.) 



§ 5D. The Wing-ooverts are conveniently divided intQ the iipper (tec- 

 trices superiores) and under [tect. infer lores) ; they include all the small 

 feathers that clothe the wings, extending- a varying distance along the buses 

 of the remiges (§60). The ordinary disposition and division of the upper 

 coverts is as follows : — There is one set, rather long and stiffish, close-pressed 

 over the liases of the outer nine or ten remiges, covering these, in general, 

 about as far as their structure is plumulaceous. These spring from the hand 

 or pinion (§55) and are the upper phimary coverts (PI. r. tig. l,7Jc) : they 

 are ordinarily the least conspicuous of any. All the rest of the upper coverts 

 are secondary, and spring mostly from the forearm ; the}^ are considered in 

 three groups, or roios. The greater coverts (PI. i, tig. 1, gsc) are the first, 

 outermost, longest row, covering the bases of most of the remiges except 

 the first nine or ten; the median coverts (PI. i, tig. 1, msc), are a next 

 row, shorter, but still aluKJst always forming a conspicuous series. All the 

 rest of the secondary coverts pass under the general name of lesser coverts 

 (PI. I, tig. 1, bo). The greater coverts have furnished a very important zoo- 

 logical character : for in all Passeres they are not more than half as long as 

 the remiges they cover, while the reverse is believed to be the case in nearly 

 all other birds. The under coverts have the same general disposition as the 

 upper : but they are all like each other, have less distinction into rows or 

 series, and for practical purposes generally pass under the common name of 

 under iving-coverts ; and since, when the Aving is strikingly colored under- 

 neath, it is these feathers, and not the remiges, that are highly or variously 

 tinted, the expression " wing below," or "-under surface of the wing" gener- 

 ally refers to them more particularly. We should distinguish, however, 

 from the under wing-coverts in general, the axiUar)/ feathers, or axillars (L. 

 axilla, arm-pit). These are the innermost of the under wing-coverts; al- 

 most always longer, stiifer, and otherwise distinguishable from the rest ; in 

 ducks, for example, and many waders, they take on remarkable development. 



§ 60. (a.) The Eemiges (PI. i, fig. 1, b, s, and t) mainly give the size, 

 shape, and general character to the wing, and are its most important fea- 

 tures ; they represent the whole of its posterior outline, most of its surface, 

 and most of its outer and inner borders. Takeu collectively, they form a 

 flattened surface for striking the air ; this surface may be quite flat, as in 

 birds with long pointed wings that cut the air like oar-blad6s ; generally it 

 is a little concave underneath, and correspondingly convex above ; this con- 

 cavo-convexity varying insensibly within certain limits. It is usually great- 

 est in birds with a short rounded wing, as in the gallinaceous order. Two 



KEY TO N. A. lilUIlS. 5 



