In many birds the upper mandible is continued far back over the forehead, and there dilated, so as to form a casque or helmet. In rapacious birds and parrots there is a belt of soft naked skin at the base of the upper mandible, named the cere, in which the nostrils are placed, while around the eye is a space, often denuded of feathers, called the ophthalmic region (11).

The Head is that part which lies immediately over the skull, extending from the base of the beak to the commencement of the neck. The front or forehead (12) is that part of the head which lies close above the nostrils; then follows the crown or summit (17), which occupies the middle or centre of the head, forming that part which is usually occupied by the crest in birds so ornamented. The hind head (18) commences at the declivity of the skull; its lower portion is called the nape (19).

Fig. 13.—ORNITHOLOGICAL REGIONS OF THE BODY OF A SMALL BIRD.

1. Upper Mandible.|12. The Forehead.|23. The Neck above, or Upper Neck. |34. Secondary Quills, or Secondaries. |
2. Lower Mandible.|13. The Gape, or Rictus.|24. The Back, or Mantle.|35. Primary Quills, or Primaries.|
3. Nostrils.|14. Space around the Eye.|25. Scapular Wing-covers.|36. The Shoulder Margin.|
4. Ridge, or Culmen.|15. Lower Throat.|26. Lower Back, or Tergum.|37. Wing Covers.|
5. Commissure, or cutting edges of
the Mandibles.		|16. Superciliary Region.|27. The Shoulder.|38. Under-surface or Under-part
of the Body.		|
6. Apex, or point of the Beak.|17. Crown, Summit, or Vertex.|28. Body, or Lower Breast.|39. The Tarsus, or Leg.|
7. The Chin.|18. Hind Head, or Occipital Region. |29. The Belly.|40. The Front Toes.|
8. Upper Throat.|19. The Nape, or Nucha.|30. The Vent.|41. The Hinder Toe, or Hallux.|
9. Keel, or Gonys.|20. The Ear, or Ear-feathers.|31. The Tail Feathers.|42. Upper Tail-covers.|
10. } Coloured Bands, usually called
11. } Bridles and Stripe.		|21. The Throat.|32. The Under Tail-covers.| |
|22. The Breast.|33. Spurious Quills.| |

On the sides of the head the following parts have received distinct names:—The feathers that cover the ears, to save repetition, are usually called the ears (20): they are generally rather more rigid and their webs more disconnected than the surrounding feathers. The space between these and the corner of the mouth (usually called the gape)(13), is termed the cheek.

The parts of the Neck are thus designated:—The back of the neck is called the upper neck, or nucha (23), beneath which is the lower neck or auchenium. The under-side of the neck is divided into three regions; first, there is the chin (7), or that small space just beneath the lower mandible; to the chin succeeds the upper throat (8), between which and the broad part of the body is the lower throat (15).

The Body presents the following regions: first there is the breast (22), which extends over the space which covers the breast-bone. To this succeeds the belly (29), which is terminated by the vent or crissum (30). Immediately behind the vent are the under-tail covers (32), which are frequently of a different colour from the surrounding feathers.

On the upper aspect of the body we have the interscapular region, sometimes called the back (24), to which succeeds the lower back (26), which terminates at the rump, or that part where the upper-tail covers (42) are inserted.

Last of all comes the Tail, composed of long stiff feathers, called the tail-feathers (31), concerning which it is only necessary to observe that the two middle tail-feathers are the intermedial, while those on the sides are the lateral tail-feathers.