﻿PARTS OF A BIRD. HEAD. 



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this is the cere. In others, like the herons, there are 

 few or no feathers between this part and the eye ; and 

 the space round the eye itself (regio ophthalmica, f. 

 2.) is often naked. 



(28.) The head, in the usual acceptation of the 

 word, is restricted to that part which constitutes the 

 skull, and extends from the base of the beak to the 

 commencement of the neck. The front (frons,g) is the 

 region lying close to the nostrils, and consists of those 

 small feathers which join the base of the bill, lying 

 between that and the eye : then follows the crown or 

 summit (vertex, li), which occupies the middle or centre 

 of the head, and is that part usually occupied by the 

 crest of such birds as are so ornamented. The hind 

 head (sinciput, i) commences at the declivity of the 

 skull, the lower portion of which is termed the nape or 

 nucha (&). 



(29.) On the sides op the head are the ears, and 

 several parts which require distinct names. The feathers 

 which cover the ears, to save repetition, are usually 

 termed the ears (/) ; they are generally rather more rigid, 

 and their webs more disconnected, or wider apart, than 

 the surrounding feathers. There are several genera 

 which have stripes both above, before, and behind the 

 eye ; and others sometimes occur at the base of the 

 lower mandible, particularly among the woodpeckers : 

 to all these distinct names become necessary. A super- 

 ciliary stripe is situated above the eye, so as to be ana- 

 logous to the human eyebrow. An ordinary eye stripe is 

 either anterior, posterior, or entire : it is anterior, when 

 it only occupies the space between the eye and bill ; 

 posterior, when it commences behind the eye, and ad- 

 vances to, or unites with, the ear feathers ; and entire, 

 when it is both posterior and anterior. The cheek fea- 

 thers are between the gape or rictus, and those which 

 cover the ears ; while a maxillary stripe commences at 

 the base of the under mandible, and descends on the 

 side of the neck. This sort of stripe, as just observed, 

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