The Primary Quills and Other Appendages

The wing covers or covert are small feathers arranged in several rows which overlap and strengthen the bases of the quills. They are often variously colored and thus afford important features whereby different species may be distinguished. A super-ciliary stripe is situated above the eye, occupying a position analogous to that of the human eyebrow. An ordinary eye stripe is either anterior, posterior or entire. It is called anterior when it only occupies the space between the eye and the bell. Posterior when it commences behind the eye and advances towards or unites with the ear feathers. The spurious or bastard quills are attached to the rudimental bone that represents the thumb,. Their size is diminutive and their use