Fig. 3. Mean breaking force (A) and mean cross-sectional area (B) of unmelanized (open circles) and melanized (closed circles) bands of barbs as a function of mean fractional distance along the feather, where `0' represents the proximal end and `1' represents the distal end of the feather. Breaking force and cross-sectional area differed significantly between bands (ANOVA, P<0.001). Mean values for bands sharing the same letter were not significantly different (a posteriori; P>0.05); mean values for all other bands were significantly different.