Wings 345 
like shafts, while the larger quills, as mentioned before, 
are reduced to four or six horny sticks. 
If we watch an owl flying about its cage at night, or 
if, in the woods, an owl passes near, his shadow in the 
moonlight is all that warns us of his presence. The feathers 
of an owl’s wing are soft and downy, and the bird moves 
as lightly as a falling leaf. Little warning, except by 
Fig. 276.—Trumpeter Swan asleep. 
sight, the mice and birds have of its deadly presence. 
Few birds have a flight as noiseless as that of owls, and 
in some species the motion of the wings makes, as we 
noticed in the pheasant, a very audible sound. When a 
widgeon rises from the water, the whistling of its quills, 
so dear to the ears of the sportsman, is quite shrill. A 
dove claps its wings together above its back while gain- 
ing impetus for flight. The characteristic sound from 
which a hummingbird takes its name is well known. 
