In speaking of birds as ‘feathered songsters’ or as ‘feathered bipeds,’ we are a little apt to lose sight of the fact that they are also scaly--an error which is occasionally rectified by the view of an obtrusive pair of legs belonging to the fowl upon the dinner-table. The legs of birds are nearly always scaly; there are a few exceptions or nearly exceptions. For instance, there is a special breed of pigeons with feathered legs; and the sand-grouse, which makes those remarkable and periodical invasions, has legs which are more covered with feathers than with scales. The possession of scales is one of the most striking points of resemblance between birds and reptiles. At first sight it seems to be almost absurd to attempt to draw any parallel between the active, feathered, hot-blooded bird and the scaly, cold-blooded reptile; yet there are many resemblances, some others of which will be indicated in the following pages. In the meantime we are concerned with the scales. These are flat plates, produced by a horny alteration of the soft underlying skin, which are precisely like those of the lizards and snakes. No other animals possess scales; those of the armadillo appear to be not unlike the scales of reptiles and birds, but they really are not, nor are those of the scaly manis, which are more comparable to closely matted tufts of hair. The scales of a fish are totally different, since they are not formed by the true skin, the epidermis, at all, but by the underlying dermis. In no bird, however, are there scales upon any part of the body except the legs. But one bird makes a near approach to having scales elsewhere. This is the Penguin, the feathers of whose wings are flattened and very scale-like. But the characteristic fringing of the feather can be detected on a careful examination. The penguin uses its wings as paddles to fly under water. A branching and delicate feather would be worse than useless under such circumstances; hence the superfluous fringing of the stem of the feather has been got rid of, and the feather itself has become flattened and lies close to the skin. Beak.