86 CLOTHING FEATHERS. 



It is necessary, however, to bear in mind that the 

 magpie is a peculiar bird, and that its form necessarily 

 accords with this peculiarity, so that no general con- 

 clusion can be drawn from it ; but we should have 

 had nearly the same limited representation if we had 

 selected any other specimen. The magpie is alter- 

 nately a tree and a ground bird ; and its structure 

 adapts it for leaping up and down, and making its way 

 among tangled branches, rather than for long flight. 

 For this purpose, the -v^ings are only of moderate 

 length, but they are well adapted for taking the air at 

 all angles, and also for turning. The tail too is much 

 produced, capable of considerable action, and wedge- 

 shaped ; the first and second properties being requi- 

 site in the frequent ascents and descents of the bird, 

 and the last in avoiding the twigs and other obstacles 

 which the bird could not have so well avoided if the 

 tail had been square at the end. 



CLOTHING LEATHERS. 



No particular name is given to the common clothing 

 feathers on the head of a bird, but they are dis- 

 tinguished by the names of the parts on which they 

 are situated — as the front or fore-head, the crown, 

 and the occiput or nape, on the upper part ; the 

 cheeks on the sides ; and the chin on the under part. 

 There are often, however, supplemental feathers on 

 the head, and these are distinguished as crests, 

 conchae, or beards, according to their situation. 

 Crests consist of produced feathers on the upper part 

 of the head, sometimes standing over the whole, or a 

 greater or smaller portion of that, and nearly covering 

 the eyes, as in some varieties of poultry ; sometimes 

 they are long and pendent from the nape, as in 

 herons, divers, and generally in birds M'hich strike 

 forward with the bill with lonsr and swift motion, in 



