Identifier: birdlifeguide00chap (find matches)
Title: Bird-life; a guide to the study of our common birds
Year: 1898 (1890s)
Authors: Chapman, Frank M. (Frank Michler), 1864-1945 Seton, Ernest Thompson, 1860-1946
Subjects: Birds -- United States
Publisher: New York, D. Appleton and company
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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that island of so many flightless birds,the requirements are evidently fulfilled, and we have theflightless Wood Hens. Here, too, lives the flightlessGallinule, Notornis, and in this family of Gallinules,birds not unlike Coots, there are at least four flightlessspecies inhabiting islands—one in the Moluccas, one inSamoa, one on Tristan dAcunha, and one on GoughIsland. The last two islands are about fifteen hundredmiles from Cape Good Hope, and have evidently neverbeen connected with a continent. There seems littlereason to doubt, therefore, that the ancestors of theGallinules now inhabiting these islands reached themby the use of their wings, and that these organs havesince become too small and weak to support their ownersin the air. Other cases might be cited; for instance,the Dodo of Mauritius among Pigeons, and the Kakapo(Stringops) of New^ Zealand among Parrots; but if theillustrations already given have not convinced you thatdisuse of the wings may result in loss of flight, let
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Plate VII. Iaues 93 94 AMERICAN BITTERN.Length, 28-00 inches. A black streak on neck; body brown and bufl; pri-maries slate-color. SORA.Length, 8-50 inches. Adult, upper parts olive-brown, black, and white;throat and face black, breast slate, bellj^ white, flanks black and white.Young, similar, but face, tln-oat, and breast white, washed with brownish. FORM AND HABIT: THE WING. 23 me take jou finally to the poultry yard, wliere in thewaddling Duck you will see an undeniable instance ofdegeneration. As the seat of sexual characters the wing is some-times most singularly developed or adorned. The malesof the Argus Pheasant and Pennant-winged Nightjarhave certain feathers enormously lengthened; the Stand-ard-bearer has white plumes growing from the wing; andthere are many other cases in which the wing presents sex-ual characters, not alone through display, but also byuse as a musical organ. I do not refer to the whistlingsound made by the wings of flying Doves or Ducks, orthe humming of

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