OCR Text |
Show 238 MR. J. T. CUNNINGHAM ON [Mar. 17, and the end of the sheath is quite soft and exudes a little blood and moisture when pressed. This feather was 52*8 cm. or about 1 ft. 9 in. long. It was one of the anterior tail-coverts, and was the only feather ever pulled out of Cock A. Feb. 11 th. Age 8 months nearly.-On this date, when I was stroking the feathers of Cock B, another came out. It was one of the anterior lateral coverts of the light side, and its length was 15^ inches (38 cm.). The feather had not ceased growing, but showed signs that it was about to cease, as the rhachis at the base was stout and thick, and the barbs emerging from the sheath were free and downy, as they are at the base of a full-grown feather, and never at its more distal part Feb. 14th.-Examined the bases of the feathers in both cocks. In A the central rectrices had nearly or quite ceased growing, and also nearly all the tail-coverts, only two or three still showing the basal sheaths. In B two or three of the posterior coverts had ceased growing on each side, but a number of the others still showed vigorous growth. Feb. 15th.-The longest feather in Cock B came out when I was stroking the feathers, though I was not pulling at all hard. The feather was the central rectrix of the left side, and was in growing condition, with bluish pulpy sheath at the base. It came clear out of the socket and was not broken off at all. The extreme length was 2 ft. 4^ in., but about 1 inch of this was in the socket before it was pulled out. The total length of the sheath up to the point where the feather proper emerged was 3^ inches (8 cm.). Feb. 16th.-Ascertained that in Cock B three tail-coverts on the right side had ceased growing and two on the left. The 2nd rectrix on right side had ceased to grow, that on the left nearly so. In Cock A the 2nd pair of rectrices had ceased growing, the 1st or central pair had nearly ceased. Twro central coverts, which were nearly as long as the central rectrices, had nearly ceased, and there were only two others on each side with growtli-sheatlis. There were two rows of coverts in front of the rectrices, anterior and posterior, with four or five feathers in each row on each side. When the feathers are specified individually they are counted from the middle line. Feb. 17th.-One of the posterior lateral coverts on right side in Cock B was pulled out today. I was really trying to see if it would come out when pulled, as it had completely ceased to grow. I found that it required much more force to pull it out than is required in the case of a growing feather. The quill was completely formed. It was evident that the attachment of the feathers was most feeble when growth was ceasing, not when the feather was growing vigorously; while after the quill was completely formed, the feather was very firmly held in the socket. The feather was 19| inches long. March 2nd.-In Cock B another feather was unintentionally pulled out. It was in full growth, and was one of the lateral anterior coverts on the right side. Total length 164 inches. |