SEC. Ill EXTERIOR PARTS OF BIRDS 167 



But observe that primaries are, so to speak, self -asserting, emphatic, 

 italicised, remiges, stiff, strong, and obstinate ; while secondaries are 

 retiring, whispering, in brevier, limber, weak, and yielding. Their 

 different character is almost always shown by something in their 

 shape or texture which the student will soon learn to recognise, 

 though it cannot well be described. Let him examine Fig. 30, 

 where h marks the nine primaries of a sparrow's wing, and s indi- 

 cates the secondaries ; he will see a difference at once. The 

 primaries express themselves, though with diminishing emphasis, to 

 the last one ; then the secondaries begin to tell a different tale. 

 The condition of the first primary, whether spurious or not, is often 

 of great help in this determination. The first primary is called 

 "spurious" when it is very short — say one-third, or less, as long 

 as the second, or longest primary. Among Fasseres, a spurious first 

 primary only occurs in certain ten-primaried Oscines ; whence it is 

 evident, that to find such short first primary is equivalent to deter- 

 mining the presence of ten primaries, though not to find it does not 

 prove there are only nine ; the count should be made in all cases in 

 which the outer primary is more than one-third as long as the next. 

 The difference between nine primaries, and ten with the first spuri- 

 ous, is excellently illustrated among the species of the American 

 Vireo. Any thrush, nuthatch, titmouse, or creeper shows a spurious 

 primary to advantage — large enough not to be overlooked, small 

 enough not to be mistaken. 



The Secondaries (Fig. 30, s) are those remiges which are seated 

 on the forearm (Fig. 27, B to C). They vary in number from six 

 to forty or more. They have the peculiarity of being attached to 

 one of the bones of the forearm, the ulna. If an ulna be examined 

 closely, there will be seen a 

 row of little points showing 

 the attachment ; such are indi- 

 cated in Fig. 27, along id, and ^^^. ^^_^^^^ „, ^„,^^,^^ ^^^^^^ ,^„„i„g 



m Flff. 31. The secondaries points of attachment of the secondaries. (Dr. R. 

 „„ , ■ , 4 W. Shnfeiat, U.S.A.) , 



present no pomts necessary to 



dwell upon here, after what has been said of the primaries. They 

 are enormously developed in the Argus pheasant, and have curious 

 shapes in some other exotic birds. They are often long enough to 

 cover the primaries completely when the wing is closed, as in 

 grebes ; on the other hand, they are extremely short in the swifts 

 and humming-birds. 



The Teptiaries (Fig. 30, t) are properly the remiges which grow 

 upon the upper arm, humerus. But such feathers are not very evident 

 in most birds, and the two or three innermost secondaries, growing 

 upon the very elbow, and commonly different from the rest in form 

 or colour, pass under the name of " tertiaries." Again, in some 



