Chapter 5 of Our Feathered Friends is here in full — 49 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of Our Feathered Friends is here in full — 49 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
HOW MADAM BIRD COMBS HER HAIR. Madam Bird is not able to smooth her head-dress with her bill. What does she do about it? Why, she uses her foot, which serves also as her hand. Birds are either-handed; that is, they can use the left hand or foot as well as the right.
Chapter 5 of Our Feathered Friends is here in full — 49 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/9 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
a statute in draft before it becomes law
From this reading “Madam Bird is not able to smooth her head-dress with her bill.”
warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading “HOW MADAM BIRD COMBS HER HAIR.”
plural of “bird” — warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading “Birds are either-handed; that is, they can use the left hand or foot as well as the right.”
plural of “comb” — a flat device with narrow pointed teeth on one edge; disentangles or arranges hair
From this reading “HOW MADAM BIRD COMBS HER HAIR.”
a woman of refinement
From this reading “HOW MADAM BIRD COMBS HER HAIR.”
plural of “serve” — (sports) a stroke that puts the ball in play
From this reading “Why, she uses her foot, which serves also as her hand.”
having a surface free from roughness or bumps or ridges or irregularities
From this reading “Madam Bird is not able to smooth her head-dress with her bill.”
plural of “use” — the act of using
From this reading “Why, she uses her foot, which serves also as her hand.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
the hand that is on the left side of the body
In this reading “Birds are either-handed; that is, they can use the left hand or foot as well as the right.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
(usually followed by “to”) having the necessary means or skill or know-how or authority to do something
From this reading Madam Bird is not able to smooth her head-dress with her bill.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading What does she do about it?
in addition
From this reading Why, she uses her foot, which serves also as her hand.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Birds are either-handed; that is, they can use the left hand or foot as well as the right.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Why, she uses her foot, which serves also as her hand.
a statute in draft before it becomes law
From this reading Madam Bird is not able to smooth her head-dress with her bill.
warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading HOW MADAM BIRD COMBS HER HAIR.
plural of “bird” — warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading Birds are either-handed; that is, they can use the left hand or foot as well as the right.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading Birds are either-handed; that is, they can use the left hand or foot as well as the right.
plural of “comb” — a flat device with narrow pointed teeth on one edge; disentangles or arranges hair
From this reading HOW MADAM BIRD COMBS HER HAIR.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading What does she do about it?
the form of “do” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading What does she do about it?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Birds are either-handed; that is, they can use the left hand or foot as well as the right.
the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading Why, she uses her foot, which serves also as her hand.
a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss
From this reading HOW MADAM BIRD COMBS HER HAIR.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading Why, she uses her foot, which serves also as her hand.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Madam Bird is not able to smooth her head-dress with her bill.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading HOW MADAM BIRD COMBS HER HAIR.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading HOW MADAM BIRD COMBS HER HAIR.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Madam Bird is not able to smooth her head-dress with her bill.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading What does she do about it?
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading Birds are either-handed; that is, they can use the left hand or foot as well as the right.
a woman of refinement
From this reading HOW MADAM BIRD COMBS HER HAIR.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Madam Bird is not able to smooth her head-dress with her bill.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading Birds are either-handed; that is, they can use the left hand or foot as well as the right.
precisely, exactly
From this reading Birds are either-handed; that is, they can use the left hand or foot as well as the right.
plural of “serve” — (sports) a stroke that puts the ball in play
From this reading Why, she uses her foot, which serves also as her hand.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading What does she do about it?
having a surface free from roughness or bumps or ridges or irregularities
From this reading Madam Bird is not able to smooth her head-dress with her bill.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Birds are either-handed; that is, they can use the left hand or foot as well as the right.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Birds are either-handed; that is, they can use the left hand or foot as well as the right.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Birds are either-handed; that is, they can use the left hand or foot as well as the right.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Madam Bird is not able to smooth her head-dress with her bill.
the act of using
From this reading Birds are either-handed; that is, they can use the left hand or foot as well as the right.
plural of “use” — the act of using
From this reading Why, she uses her foot, which serves also as her hand.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading Birds are either-handed; that is, they can use the left hand or foot as well as the right.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What does she do about it?
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading Why, she uses her foot, which serves also as her hand.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading Why, she uses her foot, which serves also as her hand.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Madam Bird is not able to smooth her head-dress with her bill.
Chapter 5 of Our Feathered Friends by Elizabeth Grinnell holds 49 sentences, grouped into 10 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 5 holds 49 sentences of Our Feathered Friends, unabridged, divided into 10 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of Our Feathered Friends by Elizabeth Grinnell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 49 sentences, grouped into 10 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 10 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 10 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 5 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading Our Feathered Friends by Elizabeth Grinnell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1879 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #64517 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #64517, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 156 minutes of reading across 376 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Our Feathered Friends section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 27 chapters of Our Feathered Friends to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Our Feathered Friends, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
