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Lesson 33 The Pretty Pigeon
第33課 美麗的鴿子
I am sure that you all know a pigeon when you see one, and that you like and admire this pretty bird.
小朋友, 你們看見鴿子, 一定都認識吧? 你們也一定都喜歡、珍愛這種美麗的鳥兒吧?
Have you ever tried to count all the kinds of tame pigeons you have seen? There are the white fantail, the pouter with its breast puffed out, the common house-pigeon, the carrier-pigeon, and many others.
你們數過, 自己見過多少種家養的鴿子么? 有潔白的“扇尾鴿”；胸脯挺得老高的“凸胸鴿”；常見的“家鴿”；“信鴿”；還有很多其他種類。
Now all these are really of the same family; and they are all cousins of the wild, blue rock-pigeon, which builds its nest in the holes of rocks.
其實, 這些鴿子都是同一個家族的, 都是野生的藍灰色“原鴿”的近親。它們在巖石的洞穴里搭窩。
The pigeon has a strong backbone; but like all other birds, it can only bend the part of its backbone which isin its neck. It can bend its neck so well, however, that it is able to reach every part of its body with its bill.
鴿子有一條強壯的脊椎骨, 不過, 跟所有其他的鳥兒一樣, 鴿子能自由彎曲的脊椎骨, 只有頸部的一部分。鴿子的頸部靈活極了, 鴿子的喙, 可以夠到全身任何一個地方！
The bill is strong and horny, and it has to act both as a hand and as a mouth. With its bill the pigeon picks up the seeds on which it lives.
鴿子的喙是角質的, 非常堅硬, 既有嘴的作用, 也有手的作用。鴿子以種子為食, 它就是用喙來啄食種子的。
The pigeon, like all other birds, has hollow bones. This makes its body very light, so that it can fly easily.If the bones of birds were either solid, or filled with marrow as ours are, they could not fly so well as theycan with their light and hollow bones.
跟所有別的鳥兒一樣, 鴿子的骨頭也是空心的。這就讓鴿子的身體非常輕, 很容易就能飛起來。要是鳥的骨頭是實心的, 或者跟人類的骨頭一樣填滿了骨髓, 飛起來的時候, 就不如帶著輕巧的空心骨頭飛得那么好了。
