10 
BEAUTIFUL BIKDS. 
bodies, so that tbe whole mass is concentrated on the 
axis of the wings, and they taper off in beautiful 
curves toward the posterior extremity. Their wings 
are long and pointed, and remarkably compact in their 
texture, so that they can undergo a great deal of 
fatigue without injury; they are acuminated, which is 
the form best adapted for rapid and long-continned 
flight. The first quill is generally the longest, although 
it sometimes happens that there is scarcely a percep- 
tible difference between that and the second ; the rest, 
however, gradually but regularly, diminish at almost 
equal intervals until they reach the lesser quills, which 
are little more than one-third the length of the exte- 
rior primaries, the whole of which are very broad, 
but gradually taper at their extremities. The lesser 
(secondary) quills, on the contrary, are not only un- 
usually short, but terminate so abruptly that they 
appear to have their ends cut off* at that part ; how- 
ever, there exists in the middle a distinct notch, or 
sinuosity, to break the passage of the air — a structure 
which is only carried to its maximum in the Bee-eaters . 
The tertials are very little longer than the secondaries , 
and hardly exceed the shortest of the primaries. It is 
thus obvious that the whole power of the wing is 
