1896.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 113 



The Kingfisher is strikingly different from any other bird exam- 

 ined, in that the first wing feather molted is the fourth primary 

 followed successively by the third, second and first (PI. V, fig. 3). 

 Three specimens taken at Sicamous, British Columbia, July 18, 1892> 

 show precisely the same order of molt and are in almost the same 

 stage. How the molt proceeds after the first primary is shed, I am 

 unable to say, though the fifth is probably the next to be renewed, 

 followed by the others in regular order inward. 



One male Piranga erythromelas shows the 7th and 8th primaries 

 molted first, followed by the 6th ; while the 9th was shed simultane- 

 ously with the 5th. This, however, seems to have been an individ- 

 ual exception. 



In the Snow Buntings two molting females (Disko, Greenland, 

 Aug. 11th) show that the innermost primary is lost first, followed 

 by the next four almost simultaneously and then the others in rapid 

 succession. The loss of all these feathers occurs so nearly at the 

 same time, that all but two of the old primaries are shed before any 

 of the new ones have grown as long as the secondaries (PI. V, fig. 4), 



The first secondary feather to be molted is the outermost, followed 

 by the others in regular order. The secondaries, however, do not 

 begin to molt until the primaries have nearly all been renewed, the 

 first new secondary appearing simultaneously with the 4th or 5th 

 primary — i. e. when only three or four of the old primaries remain 

 (PI. V, fig. 5). 



The first tertial generally appears a little before the first secondary. 



The primaries and secondaries seem to be the most persistent of 

 the bird's feathers, and when they are shed, there is always, so far 

 as I have been able to ascertain, a complete molt. 



The tertials on the other hand are frequently renewed independ- 

 ently of the other wing feathers during the spring, when there is a 

 partial molt in some species. 



As regards the molt of the tail, it has generally been stated that 

 the feathers are shed symmetrically and successively a pair at a time 

 while this may be true it is nevertheless a fact that in many, prob- 

 ably most, of our smaller land birds, the molts of the successive pairs 

 occur in such rapid succession that the bird is for a brief time prac- 

 tically tail-less, and the half grown feathers a[)pear to be all of nearly 

 the same size as in the case of the first tail of the nestling, when 

 partly grown. In other words the first pair of new tail-feathers does 

 not reach a functional length before the last pair of old feathers is 

 shed. 



