it is now your turn to infuse additional information into their minds, and, give them the benefit of your superior knowledge; which may be done as follows:—­You have told me that feathers are useful to cover birds, it was for this that they were made by God; they keep the birds warm just in the same way as your clothes keep you from being cold; and as the poor birds cannot make themselves clothes as men can, God has given them feathers that they may not be cold when the bad weather comes.  The feathers are useful to the birds also in flying; the long feathers in a bird’s wing keep him in the air, which he could not fly through if he was covered with any thing else, because feathers are very light.  Seven of the large feathers out of the great eagle’s wing would not weigh more than two halfpennies.  The wings of a bird make him able to fly, and the tail guides him through the air, just as you may see the men steer boats with the rudder; and if you pulled the feathers off his tail, he would not be able to fly near so straight or fast as when they are on.  When the rain falls on the feathers, they are never soaked through with it as a piece of rag would be if you threw water on it, because they are covered with a sort of oil which does not let in the water.  If you ever look at a duck dive into the water, you can see it when it comes up quite dry; but if you dipped you head into the water it would wet it all over.  When little birds, such as the sparrow and canary, come out of the egg, they have no feathers on, but the old ones cover them with their wings to keep the cold away, and the feathers soon grow, and then they can fly away and find food and make nests for themselves; but large birds, such as the goose, turkey, hen, and duck, have a sort of soft down on them when they come out of the shell, and little ducks will go and swim as soon as they are hatched, as I suppose some of you have seen.

Some birds’ feathers are much prettier than others:  the goose has not such pretty feathers as the swan, nor the swan as the peacock; but we must not think ill of the goose for this, for its flesh is better to eat than either the peacock or swan.  I am sure many of you little children like roast goose.  The peacock has very pretty feathers indeed, and so has the pheasant, and the drake, and the cock; but some birds that live in countries many hundred miles away from this, have much prettier than any bird that lives in this country.  This feather that we have for our lesson is the feather of a goose; it is not very pretty, but if we examine it well we shall find it is very curious, and all the men in the world could not make one like it.  Goose feathers are the most useful; the small ones make stuffing for pillows and beds, and the large ones make pens to write with.  Birds change their feathers often; they drop off and they get new ones; this is called moulting.

Having thus given the children as much information on the subject as they will be likely to be able to digest properly, you may then get it back from them by question and answer; as for instance