XX\1 
INTRODUCTION, 
general with a splendour far superiour to their fellow denizens in colder 
climates. Although there are not wanting, even in the temperate and frigid 
zones, objects, which vie with the most gaudy species of the south. This 
beautiful vesture is thickened and increased in those fowls which spend 
their lives^on the waters, to such a degree, as to be almost impervious by 
the element on wdiich they subsist. It at once protects the animal from 
the injuries of the weather, and assists it in its progression through the air. 
Thus a combination of uses is seen to spring from the same means. Each 
feather is divided into tw'o parts, the shaft and the vane, or web ; the shaft 
is convex on the upper side, and grooved in the middle beneath, and, as we 
have already remarked, unites lightness with strength. A hollow base is 
filled with the connecting pith, to feed the growth of the feather ; and the 
quill part is internally composed of longitudinal fibres, which split length- 
wise into thin lamina, while the external parts, like hoops surrounding a 
cask, embrace the longitudinal fibres firmly together. The vane, web, or . 
beard, springs out of the shaft, and is composed, on both sides, of 
numerous rays or layers, curiously united by capillary filaments, each of 
which bears some resemblance to a feather. Their under side is soft and 
smooth ; and in birds of the Owl kind the exterior web is fringed with a 
light downy substance, and the first quill is serrated, probably, as they are 
not swift in flight, to prevent their prey from hearing their approach by 
the percussion of their wings on the air. The upper margin is divided 
into two rough edges, with hooked, or bearded bristles above, and 
straight ones below ; these unite by the entangling of the hooks, 
and thus are neatly interwoven. The outer web is in general narrow, and 
the inner one broad and more expanded, particularly in the quill ; but in 
feathers on the body both webs are frequently of equal size ; and though 
at first sight all feathers appear alike, yet on nice examination prove of 
diflerent formation. The quill feathers are dissimilar in shape from 
those on the body, and these frequently differ from those encircling 
the meatus auditorius, the rump, the head, and the vent. The quill 
feathers of all birds, which use their wings as instruments of flight. 
