When you look at a bird, you will first of all notice the feathers. They are its clothing, and help it in flying. Next to the body grows a soft down. There are patches on the body where only down grows. These spots, bare of feathers, give room for the play or motion of the larger feathers. Such spots do not show, as the over-lapping of the large and small feathers covers them. The tail and wing feathers are the largest. The quill part of the feather is hollow. You cannot move the hairs on your head. The bird can move its feathers, and turns the large ones flat or sideways, as it changes its flight. The smaller feathers are called coverts. They are laid on one close over the other. They are chiefly for clothes, as the large ones are chiefly for flying. Many birds have splendid feathers. Have you seen the great train of a peacock? But the peacock is not a bird that flies much. His tail would hinder him in the air. All he can do in flying is to rise to a roof or the limb of a tree. Some other birds have one or two long gay tail plumes which do not hinder their flight. When the little bird is first hatched it has no feathers. Have you seen the wee chicks, just out of the shell? They are dressed in down. What fluffy balls they are! Peep into the robin’s nest, and see the nearly naked birds. They have for clothes only a few long hairs. Do not touch them. Do not go when the mother bird is there. But peep in each day, and watch how the feathers grow. Or, you can watch feathers grow on your baby canary. They grow very fast. When first the robins begin to fly, notice that their feathers are not quite like those of the old bird. The young robin’s breast is spotted, not plain red. His feathers lie loosely. He looks puffy. Birds moult or cast their coats. They drop their feathers in hot weather. This gives them a chance to change old broken feathers for new ones. They get warm new coats for winter. They do not drop all the feathers at once. But some feathers go and some come, until the moult is over. Most birds have some little bags of oil in their skin, on the back part of their bodies. They can press the oil out of these bags with their bills. Have you ever watched birds preening, or dressing themselves? They are spreading this oil over their feathers to keep them soft and clean. Birds are very lovely creatures. They have graceful, elegant shapes, eyes bright like jewels, and very fine bright colors. They are also very wonderful in their ways. And many of them are very useful. FOOTNOTES: [24] Some naturalists deny that birds have the sense of smell to any degree, but experiments with blind birds seem to prove that this sense is well developed. LESSON XXIX. BEAKS AND CLAWS. Let us go out and take a walk together. What is this on the ground? It is a bird’s foot. You know it by the four toes, three before and one behind; by the scale-like, rough skin; by the long, sharp nails on the toes.