THE FEATHERS. 
65 
Of a feather’s lightness, we may form some idea when we 
find that the largest quill of a Golden Eagle weighs only 
sixty-five grains, and that seven such quills do not weigh 
more than a copper penny-piece ; that the feathers of a com- 
mon fowl which weighs thirty-seven ounces, weigh only 
three ounces ; and that the entire plumage of an Owl weighs 
only one ounce and a half. Meant as they are, some for 
covering and some for strength, we shall find them, on 
examination, very differently put together. The light downy 
part, when examined through a microscope, will be found to 
hear little resemblance to the flat part or blade of the quill. 
If it were not so, a bird would scarcely he able to fly at all ; 
for when the flat of the wing was pressed down, the air 
would pass through it, and yield no resistance. The fibres 
of the downy part, we see, have little connexion with each 
other ; they have short and loose side shoots, just sufficient 
to mat them together when pressed close to the skin ; 
whereas, the side shoots of the quill-feather hook and grapple 
with one another, so as to make one firm and united surface. 
Some idea of this may he formed from the annexed figures, 
the second of which represents a piece of the finest down 
magnified. 
But others there are, much stronger and stiffer than the 
wing quill-feathers, as those, for instance, forming the tails 
of the Woodpecker tribe. And the reason would he evident 
to any person who watched a Woodpecker on the stem of a 
tree feeding. Its food consists of grubs, usually concealed 
in the wood. In order to get them, he must therefore 
remain fixed on the hark, and make a hole with his beak, a 
tedious, if not an impracticable operation, were it not for the 
wiry stiffness of the tail feathers, which press against the 
tree, and act like an additional limb. The tail, however, has 
another use, applicable more or less to all birds ; it is to 
them, what a rudder is to a boat, and in many cases acts 
like a third wing. If we look at a Hawk hovering in the 
air, when he remains in one spot we shall see that the 
tail is spread out like a fan, and is in a constant state of 
