. Our domestic birds; elementary lessons in aviculture . orm from the feathers on the same parts of thefemale. When a feather appendage not common to a species isdeveloped on some varieties, as the crest and beard on fowlsand the ruff on pigeons, both sexes have it. The most inter- that depends for its effect in a section upon some overlap-ping feathers being marked alike and others having a differentmarking; and for the effect in a single feather, upon adjacentbarbs being now alike, now different, in the distribution of thepigment in them. The best common example of a pattern cover-ing a seri
. Our domestic birds; elementary lessons in aviculture . orm from the feathers on the same parts of thefemale. When a feather appendage not common to a species isdeveloped on some varieties, as the crest and beard on fowlsand the ruff on pigeons, both sexes have it. The most inter- that depends for its effect in a section upon some overlap-ping feathers being marked alike and others having a differentmarking; and for the effect in a single feather, upon adjacentbarbs being now alike, now different, in the distribution of thepigment in them. The best common example of a pattern cover-ing a series of feathers is found on the wing of a Mallard Duckor of a Rouen Duck. Interesting examples of the formation ofpatterns on a single feather may be found in the plumage ofbarred, laced, and penciled fowls, and also in the lacings onthe body feathers of the females of the varieties of ducks men-tioned. Perhaps the most interesting illustrations of this kind,however, are to be seen on the plain feathers of the guinea andthe gorgeous tail of the esting feather decorations willbe described particularly in thechapters on the species on whichthey occur. Fig. i. Brown Leghorn chick(one day old) Color in feathers. While colorsin the plumage are distributedvery differently in differentspecies of birds, often mak-ing combinations peculiar to aspecies, there is in all the samewonderful formation of patterns, CHARACTERS AND HABITS OF BIRDS 11 The pigment which colors the plumage may be found insoluble form in the quills of immature colored feathers. It isnot conspicuous unless it is quite dark. In black fowls it is oftenso abundant that a part remains in the skin when the feathersare removed. After the pigment is deposited in the web of thefeather the color is fast. Water does not affect it, but it fadesa little with age and exposure. New plumage usually containsa great deal of oil, a condition which is most conspicuous inwhite birds, to whose plumage the oil gives a creamy tint
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