rows on top of the wing in front, and more like them underneath,
covering over the roots of the rowing feathers. Have they any name?"

"Oh, yes! Everything you can see about a bird has its own name. Those
small feathers are called _coverts_, because they cover over the roots
of the rowers. Those on top are the upper coverts; those underneath are
the under coverts, or lining of the wings. Now notice those two pretty
bands of color across the Sparrow's wing. You see one band is formed by
the tips of the longest coverts, and the other band by the tips of the
next longest coverts. Those two rows of feathers are the greater and
middle coverts, and all the smallest feathers, next to the front edge of
the wing, are called lesser coverts. Now look at the tail, Rap, and tell
me what you can find."

"Why, there is a bunch of long stiff feathers like rowers, that slide
over each other when you spread the tail, and a lot of short feathers
that hide the roots of the long ones. Are they rowers and coverts too?"
"A bird does not row with his tail--he steers with it, as if it were a
rudder; and the long feathers are therefore called rudder-feathers--or
_rectrices_, which is Latin for rudders. But the short ones are called
coverts, like those of the wings--upper tail-coverts, and under
tail-coverts."

"How funny!" said Dodo, "for a bird to have to row himself and steer
himself all at once. I know I should get mixed up if I tried it with a
boat. How do feathers grow, Uncle Roy?"

"Just like your hair, little girl," said the Doctor, patting her on the
head, "or your nails. Didn't you ever notice the dots all over the skin
of a chicken? Each dot is a little hole in the skin where a feather