英國(guó)學(xué)生科學(xué)讀本 Lesson 33 美麗的鴿子(2)

The wings and tail of the pigeon are covered with long feathers, called quills. The quill-feathers of the winghelp the pigeon to fly, while the quills of the tail guide the bird and steady it in its flight.

鴿子的翅膀和尾巴都覆蓋著長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的羽毛, 學(xué)名叫“飛翔羽”。翅膀上的飛翔羽是幫助鴿子飛的, 尾巴上的飛翔羽, 能在鴿子飛翔時(shí)幫助導(dǎo)向, 幫鴿子保持平衡。

The rest of the pigeon's body is covered with short feathers. Below these feathers it has a kind of soft hair,called down , which clothes the bare skin of the bird and keeps it warm.

鴿子身體其余的部分覆蓋著短羽毛。這些羽毛下面長(zhǎng)著一種軟毛, 絨羽覆蓋了鴿子赤裸的皮膚, 能讓皮膚保暖。

Pigeons live in pairs, and the mates are very fond of each other. If one of a pair dies, the other will not eat for days, and may even die of grief.

鴿子是成雙成對(duì)地生活的, 彼此非常恩愛(ài)。要是有一只死了, 另一只會(huì)好幾天不吃東西, 甚至?xí)闹了滥?

In summer, the mother pigeon lays two white eggs, and sits on them to keep them warm. The father pigeon, too, takes his turn at sitting on the eggs. In less than three weeks the young pigeons come out of the eggs. At first the young birds have no feathers to cover them; and for some weeks the parent birds have to feed them withseeds out of their own bills.

夏天, 鴿子?jì)寢寱?huì)生下兩個(gè)白色的鴿蛋, 坐在蛋上給蛋保暖。鴿子爸爸也會(huì)跟媽媽輪換著孵蛋。不到三個(gè)星期, 蛋里就會(huì)鉆出小鴿子來(lái)。一開(kāi)始, 小鴿子身上是光著的, 沒(méi)有羽毛;有好幾個(gè)星期的時(shí)間, 爸爸媽媽都得用喙銜著谷粒喂小鴿子。

Pigeons can fly very well. The carrier-pigeon sometimes flies a mile in a minute. These birds may be taken many, many miles from their home, and yet they will fly straight back again. They are used for carrying messages.The message is written on a small piece of paper, which is rolled up, and tied under the bird's wing.

鴿子非常善于飛翔。信鴿的速度有時(shí)候能達(dá)到一分鐘一英里。把這些鳥兒帶到離家成百上千英里遠(yuǎn)的地方, 它們還能徑直地飛回家去。人們用信鴿來(lái)傳信, 把信寫在一小片紙上, 卷起來(lái)綁在信鴿的翅膀下面。

 

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