Feather These barbules have minute hooks called barbicels for cross-attachment. Down feathers are fluffy because they lack barbicels, so the barbules float free of each other, allowing the down to trap air and provide excellent thermal insulation. At the base of the feather, the rachis expands to form the hollow tubular "calamus" (or quill) which inserts into a follicle in the skin. The basal part of the calamus is without vanes. This part is embedded within the skin follicle and has an opening at the base (proximal umbilicus) and a small opening on the side (distal umbilicus). Hatchling birds of some
Leonard Cohen: Bird on a Wire Leonard Cohen: Bird on a Wire Leonard Cohen: Bird on a Wire, originally titled Bird on a Wire, is a 1974 documentary that chronicles a troubled 1972 concert tour of Europe and Israel by the Canadian singer and songwriter Leonard Cohen. It was directed by British filmmaker Tony Palmer, with cinematography by Les Young. The film takes its name from the Cohen song "Bird on the Wire". The film, after extensive re-editing from its initial version, opened in London in 1974. It was shown on German television, but it disappeared for decades and was considered a lost film. Its original