What, then, must be the force of the water against a body falling from the enormous heights from which a gannet plunges, especially when an 16initial velocity is imparted to it besides that which results from the force of gravitation! Here the enclosed air comes into operation, and by acting as a spring, guards the body of the bird from the direct. shock that might otherwise be felt; it also prevents the bird from sinking too deeply into the sea, and assists it in regaining the surface. The extraordinary amount of air which pervades the body of a bird explains the curious fact that a singing bird is able to pour out such volumes of sound from so small a body, and without apparent fatigue. A man would be soon tired, if he were provided with a whistle, and set to oppose a canary or a nightingale, although the comparative size of the lungs of the bird and of the man is so infinitely in favour of the latter. True feathers are to be found only on birds, and therefore the very presence of feathers is sufficient to mark out the bird from any other vertebrate animal. There is only one bird which appears to form an exception to the general rule, that is the cassowary, whose body is covered with long black 17filaments that look very like horsehair, or more closely resemble split whalebone; yet these apparent hairs are in reality feathers, being composed of the shafts without visible 18vanes. Feathers are divided into two kinds, principal or quill feathers, and inferior or coverts; the coverts taking their name from their locality, because they cover certain parts of the body, while the principals are mostly used for 19progression. The wing-skeleton of a bird is composed of the same bones as those in the arm of a man; and in order to show how the feathers are placed, we will suppose the right wing of a bird to be stretched out like a man's arm, the fingers being applied closely to each other, and the thumb a little separated. If we examine the quill feathers at the end of the wing, we shall find that ten of them can be traced back to the hand and fingers. These form the "primary" feathers, and in the arrangement of these mostly depends the bird's style of flight. If they are long, stiff, and pointed, we at once know that the flight is swift and active. Such feathers are to be found in swallows and humming birds. But if they are short, rounded at the extremity, and concave below, the flight will then be comparatively slow and laborious. Such is the case with our sparrow, and to a greater extent with the magpie. Then, if they are large, tolerably equal, and firm, the bird flies easily, powerfully, and steadily. Most of the crow family have this kind of wing. If again they are large, concave, and fitted with soft vanes, as in the owl, then the flight is easy and noiseless. But if these feathers are short, pointed, and possess hardly any vanes at all, as in the case of the cassowary and other similar birds, then there is no flight at all. So that from a short description of the primaries it is easy to determine what kind of figure the owner of them would make in the air. There was a time when the best existing definition of a man was "Animal bipes implume," a two-legged, featherless animal. But I remember an argument held by a boy, which would go to prove that even that definition was entirely false. "What is the difference between birds and men?" asked the tutor. Boy reflects, and presently comes the answer, "Don't know, sir." 66 Think," says the tutor; "try again." "Don't know, sir." 66 Why, look at a sparrow and then at a man; is there no difference in their appearance?" "Don't see any, sir." "Not see! has not a bird wings, and a man has none?" 66 Yes, sir, but men used to have wings." Tutor jumps out of his seat at this astonishing reply, and stares helplessly at the boy. "Men used to have wings," says the boy again. The tutor thinks that the boy has read the "Vestiges of Creation" upside down, or lost himself in some maze of philosophy, and calls on the boy to explain. "I saw it in the History of England," replied the boy. "WHERE?" said the tutor. "Go on." "Why, sir, it says, in the History of England, that James II. took flight into France. He couldn't have taken flight if he hadn't had wings." Now this was really pure simplicity, and not a specimen of astounding impertinence. The boy had read that History of England very early, and the 20primary meaning of the words "took flight" had fixed themselves so strongly in his mind, that no other interpretation came across him.- From " My Feathered Friends." (Inserted by permission). Icarus. In Grecian fable Dædalus and his son Icarus are said to have tried to pass over the Ægean Sea on wings made by the former. Dædalus crossed the sea in safety, but Icarus flew too near the sun, the wax which fastened the wings to his body melted, and, falling into the sea, he was drowned. 2" Flying Man," a foreigner who some years ago went up in a balloon from public gardens in London, and with an immense wing apparatus attempted to descend gradually to the earth. In this attempt he fell from a great height, and was killed. ignominiously, contemptibly, disgracefully, shamefully. The word is derived from the Latin in, not, and nomen, a name, and denotes the loss of one's good name 3 7 11 9 mam by shame, contempt, or dishonour. organs of respiration, air tubes and lungs, by which we breathe or respire. 5 texture, tissue, that which is woven; construction. "porous, having passages for fluids, like sponge. section, a cutting through. microscope, an optical instrument used for inspecting very small objects. mal, one of the highest class of vertebrated (or backboned) animals, characterised by the female suckling its young. It is derived from the Latin mamma, a breast. 10 permeated, passed through, especially by a fluid. entomologist, one versed in the science of entomology, or that branch of zoology which treats of insects. 12 antennæ, movable, articulated (jointed) organs of sensation attached to the heads of insects and crustacea. Banatomy means the art of dissection or dividing anything for the purpose of examining its parts; in the anatomy of the cockchafer, each part of the structure of the insect forms the subject of close investigation. sacs, bags. 15 buoyancy, the quality of floating on or in a fluid. 16 initial, of or pertaining to the beginning, such as the first letter in a name. The initial velocity means the speed with which the bird commences to descend. " filament, a thread or thread-like object or appendage. vane, the thin membranous part or web of a feather, on the side of the shaft. 19 progression, act of moving forward, motion onward. 20 primary, original, first, primitive. It is derived from the Latin primus, first. 14 18 17 NOTE. For the following see appendix: frigate bird, albatross, cassowary, humming bird, partridge, Solan goose, cockchafer. THE OCEAN. THERE is a pleasure in the pathless woods, What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal. Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean-roll! He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan Without a grave, 'unknell'd, uncoffin'd and unknown. His steps are not upon thy paths,―thy fields And shake him from thee; the vile strength he wields And dashest him again to earth :-there let him "ay. The armaments which thunderstrike the walls The shores are empires, changed in all save thee- |