88 FEATHERS ON THE BODY. 



feathers for flight, nor supplemental or ornamental 

 ones. Thus the word "covert" becomes a general 

 one in describing the plumage of birds, and coverts 

 are styled upper or under, according as they are on 

 the upper or under sides of those members which 

 they cover. Those of the ears are peculiar as 

 covering, with more produced and downy plumage 

 than that on the surrounding parts, the openings of 

 these organs ; and though their use is not very well 

 known, they probably answer the purpose of external 

 conchse to the ears, and at the same time protect 

 those delicate organs from the action of the air when 

 the birds are in rapid flight. 



The feathers on the neck and body of birds are 

 also named from the places upon which they are 

 situated. The neck is described as the throat, sides, 

 and back. The distinctive parts of the body are more 

 numerous ; and they are often spoken of, generally, 

 as the upper part and the under part. The entire 

 upper part of a bird includes all that part of its sur- 

 face which is seen when the head, the wings, and the 

 tail are stretched out, and the eye of the observer 

 placed opposite to the middle of the back. The 

 under part, in like manner, means all that which is 

 seen when the bird is stretched out in a similar 

 manner, and the eye of th€ observer against the 

 middle of the belly, or rather the posterior edge of 

 the breast bone. But' as these general significations 

 of the terms include the wings and the tail, as well 

 as the body of the bird, and as those organs require 

 separate description, the upper and under parts are 

 generally understood in a more limited sense, as not 

 including these parts. Thus when it is said that the 

 upper part, or the under part of a bird is of any par- 

 ticular colour, it is not meant to be asserted that the 



