BIRDS. 101 



cling about the sheets during that trying and dangerous 

 run. Of the thirty or more " doubtful " birds given at the 

 end of the section — they might easily have been doubled, 

 had I included many that Mr Saunders and others have 

 shown to be too preposterous — it will be observed that over 

 half hail from the other side of the Atlantic. As it is, one 

 occurrence, properly authenticated, suffices to add a bird 

 to the British list. Only last autumn, Mr Keulemanns 

 showed me the skin of "a new British warbler," which he 

 had just drawn for the British Museum. 



Of the external features of the bird it lies not within the 



scope of a small and unscientific book like this 



n\. , , to give any detailed account, the subject being 



but little less foreign to its purpose than its 



anatomy. A few remarks of an elementary nature may 



not, however, be out of place. 



Feathers, of which there are several categories, including 

 the so-called " down," are the distinctive character of the 

 class. No other living creature has a cover- 

 ing of this sort ; no bird is without it. The 

 colouring of this plumage is, as a rule, the first aid to 

 identification. It is of importance to bear in mind the 

 seasonal changes, most noticeable in the male, which, save 

 in the dotterel and phalaropes, is always more gaily clad 

 than his mate. If it were possible to lay down a general 

 rule, it would be that the male puts on brighter garments 

 during the breeding season, resuming in winter a duller 

 plumage closely resembling, if not identical with, that of 

 his mate. To this, the ducks ofi'er a striking exception. 

 This seasonal change of plumage reaches its climax in the 

 well-known instance of the ptarmigan, which has three 

 moults in the course of the year, turning, all but the black 

 eye-stripe, completely white in winter. In some birds, as 

 the ruff and grebes, this breeding dress includes not only 

 brighter colours, but also the development of some extra 

 collar or tippet of feathers, which are dropped again as 

 soon as the courting-time is over. Of the relation between 



