The Breath of a Bird 169 
is common to all birds) the trachea appears to be com- 
posed of alternating half-rings, but when elongated 
these are seen to be complete, the illusion being pro- 
duced by the overlapping of half of each ring by an equal 
part of the rings on each side. When the trachea is ex- 
tended, the only hint of this clever device is a small notch 
on the sides of every ring. The illustration demonstrates 
the working better than any description. 
Nature is ingenious but not perfect, as is seen even 
in the inch of Flamingo’s trachea which I have utilized 
for illustration and description. Two of the rings do not 
“jibe” on one of their sides, and overlap the wrong way, 
but the loss in motion is infinitesimal, the defect being 
hardly noticeable even when the rings are bent into a 
semicircle. 
In a very young English Sparrow there are about 
fifty rings around the trachea, appearing to be of a more 
cartilaginous nature than those of the flamingo. This 
latter long-necked bird has no less than four hundred and 
fifty rings. 
In some members of the Class of amphibians (frogs, 
toads, and newts) the trachea is supported by small ir- 
regular pieces of cartilage, tending in the higher forms 
toward ringed areas. Among reptiles an intermediate 
condition exists, complete rings being present, but of 
cartilage instead of bone. 
The wonderful music of birds is produced in a rela- 
tively small area, known as the syrinx. This organ is 
situated at the point where the trachea divides into the 
two bronchi. The latter arise as if by a splitting of the 
