THE SUNFISH AND THE SPARROW 17 



Examine a wing; determine by reference to fig. 7 what 

 feathers compose the primaries, secondaries, tertiaries, 

 greater, middle, and lesser coverts. How many primaries 

 are there? How many secondaries? At the bend of the 

 wing and lying partly over the upper greater coverts is a 

 tuft of short quills, the spurious quills; underneath the wing 

 at its junction with the body are some long, narrow feathers, 

 the axillars. 



Spread the wing out and note where the quill feathers are 

 inserted. Note how perfectly the feathers fit together and 

 overlap, both when the wing is outspread and when folded. 

 The wing corresponds to our arm and hand, the primaries 

 being inserted on the hand (in the bird there is only one 

 large finger, two very small ones not showing except in the 

 skeleton), the secondaries on the forearm and the tertiaries 

 on the upper arm. With what part of the fish does the wing 

 of the bird correspond ? If a cleaned and mounted skeleton 

 of a bird can be had for examination the bones of the wing 

 should be studied and drawn. 



The names of the various regions of the trunk can be 

 learned by reference to fig. 7. 



How many rectrices or tail feathers are there? What is 

 the use of the tail ? Note the oil gland above the base of 

 the tail. What is the use of the oil ? How is it put on the 

 feathers? Observe this in a chicken. 



Examine a leg. It is composed of thigh, shank, and foot, 

 the foot comprising the long slender tarsus and four toes 

 with claws. What parts of the leg are feathered? Note 

 the covering on the unfeathered parts. What are the toes 

 well fitted for? There is much variety in the shape and 

 character of birds' legs, including differences in the length 

 of the various parts, in the covering, in the number and 

 position of the toes, and in the size of the claws. All these 

 differences, as well as the many in the shape and character 

 of the bill, are correlated with habits, especially the feeding 



