Feather

(ftrür.) [A.S. fed her.] A complicated modification of the tegumentary system forming the external covering or plumage of birds, and peculiar to this cla of animals. They consist of a tube, a shaft, and barbs or vanes. The tube is a hollow, transparent, horny cylinder; the shaft is elastic, and contains a white, dry, and very light pith; the barbs, which run in a uniform direction and cover each side of the shaft, are broad on one side and narrow on the other; the barbules are attached to the sides of the barbs. The feathers of birds are periodically changed, which proce is called moulting. Chemically analyzed, F. seem to po e nearly the same constituents as hair. In descriptive ornithology, the quills of the wing which are attached to the hand aro called primaries, and are the largest and firmest; those attached to the forearm, secondaries; to the humerus, tertiaries. The ranges of feathers which cover the base of the quills above and below are called coverts; the F. that grow from the shoulder are called scapulars; and those from the thumb, spurious quills. The quills employed in writing are those of the goose, the turkey, and the crow. The down of the swan is sometimes used in making muffs and other articles of dre . Goose F. are most esteemed for beds; and they are best when plucked from the living bird, which is done, very inhumanly, thrice a year, viz,in the spring, midsummer, [s. 358]