The Framework of the Bird 75 
the skeleton was not originally one bone. Passing on for 
a moment to the bones of the tail, we find a number of 
separate pieces, ending in a curious-shaped bone, called 
the ploughshare. This is at the tip of the tail, or ‘“pope’s 
Fig. 52.—Giraffe, reaching with tongue for leaves perhaps eighteen feet above the 
ground, with but 7 neck bones. 
nose,” of the chicken and really consists of many verte- 
bre fused together. It is necessary for this to be large 
and strong: for it supports all the feathers of the tall. 
But to be of efficient aid in steering, the tail, like the 
rudder of a ship, must have freedom of motion, and 
