Beeton's book of poultry and domestic animals - Thurman Lodge ...

alternations -with ease, provided he be near enougli ; the wings
are never extended to their full length, the elbow-joint being
always more or less bent, and the hand or pinion always
inclined backwards."
Of a feather's lightness, we may form some idea, when we
find that the largest qtiill of a golden eagle weighs only sixtyfive
grains, and that seven such quiUs barely turn the beam
against a copper penny. The feathers of a common fowl,
weighing more than two poraids, weigh only two onnces ; and
the whole of an owl's plnmage weighs but one ounce and a
half. " Meant, as they are," says Bishop Stanley, " some for
covering and some for strength, we shall find them, on exami-
nation, very differently put together. The bight downy part,
when examined through a microscope, will be found to bear
little resemblance to the flat part, or blade of the qufll. If it
were not so, a bird would scarcely be able to fly at all; for
when the flat of the wing was pressed down, the air would
pass through it, yielding little or no resistance. The fibres of
the downy parts have, we see, little connection with each
other ; they have short and loose side shoots, just sufficient to
meet 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. It is
clear, that if water could soak into the soft feathery covering
of a bird, every shower of rain would be the death of thousands
; inasmuch as it would increase their weight considerably,
and at the same time, by destroying the fine elastic nature of
the feathers, entirely disable them from flying, and they must
remain in a helpless state upon the ground, either to perish
through hunger or become the prey to men or animals, who
would catch them without trouble."
The air bones in young birds are described as being filled with
marrow, which becomes gradually absorbed, to make room for
the admission of air. This gradual expansion of the air-cells
and absorption of the marrow can nowhere be observed so
well as in young tame geese, when killed in different periods of
the autumn and winter. The limits to the air-cells may be
clearly seen without, from the transparency of the bony walls.
From week to week the marrow disappears, and the air-vessels
increase in size, till, towards the close of the season, they
become transparent.
" To give some idea of the duration and continuity of
motion in birds," says an English naturalist, " and likewise