A History 
of Birds. 
(112) 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
The Filo-plumes have a long, slender shaft with 
a minute vane at the top. They are apparently 
a degenerate form of contour feather, judging 
from the fact that during the earlier part of their 
development many more barbs are present 
than are to be found in the fulty-grown Filo- 
plume. 
Yet another form of feather is that which is 
found fringing the mouths of birds like Fly¬ 
catchers and Nightjars. Bristle-like, there will 
yet be found about the bases of many a few weak 
barbs; the eyelashes of many birds, like the 
Ostrich, the Ground-hornbill, and some other 
birds, are similarly fringed with these peculiar 
bristle-like feathers. 
Nestling-Down 
The down which covers the nestlings of many 
birds such as Fowls and Ducks answers to the 
contour feathers of the adult; but is of a simpler 
structure. Indeed, it differs in character among 
different species of the same group. In its most 
completely developed form it recalls the contour 
feathers, having a shaft and barbs with weak 
barbules, but those last have no distinct hooklets, 
hence the general character of down of the 
plumage; while in its more degenerate form the 
shaft is absent, as in a true down-feather. 
Mr. C. T. Maxwell (Brixton), 
The Champion British Bird Exhibitor whose aviaries and birds, 
valued at ,£300, were all destroyed by fire last month. 
Penguin and Young. 
The latter is one of the first brood (of two), ever reared 
in England. 
Where down is present in the adult it will be 
found in the nestling just before the feathers 
begin to appear. In some birds, as in the Ducks 
indeed, and young Hawks, these early down 
feathers, or “ pre-plumulsc,” attain to so large a 
size that they eventually play a more prominent 
part than the typical nestling down or “ pre- 
plumae,” so-called because preceding the plumae 
or feathers. In young Cormorants the down is 
wholly made up of this pre-plumulae nestling- 
down, which is succeeded later, not by contour 
feathers, but by down-feathers. 
Nestling-down in its most degenerate form may 
be seen in young Pigeons, and the young of 
most of the Song-birds, while in others it is alto¬ 
gether wanting, as in young Sparrows and those 
of the Crow-tribe. 
The Aftershaft. 
Only in the neslling-down of the Game-birds, 
Ducks, and the Ostrich tribe is there found an 
“ aftershaft.” This, by the Avay, is a conspicuous 
feature in the adult feathers of the Emu and 
Cassowary, where it forms a sort of duplicate of 
the main-shaft, equalling it in size; while among 
the higher birds it is never very large, except in 
the Game-birds, but even here it is downy in 
texture, and is always shorter than the main 
shaft. 
(To be continued.') 
