THE BIRD'S NEST 77 



autumn journey. Do you remember wliat I told you 

 that rainy clay in my study about this moulting or 

 changing of feathers ? " 



" Yes, I do,'' said Rap and Nat together. " ]Most 

 birds have two coats a year, and the male's is the 

 brighter," continued Nat eagerly, proud to show that 

 he remembered. " Tlie one that comes out in the 

 spring is the gayest, so that his mate shall admire 

 him and when this coat comes he sings his very best 

 and — " 



" Stop and take breath, ni}^ boy," laughed the Doctor; 

 " there is plenty of time. Why do we think that the 

 male has the gayest feathers — do you remember that 

 also?" 



" No, I've forgotten," said Nat. 



" I remember," cried Rap ; " it is to please the female 

 and because she sits so much on the nest that if her 

 feathers were as bright as the male's her enemies would 

 see her quicker, and when the little birds hatch out 

 they are mostly in plain colors too, like their mother." 



" Oh, I remember that now," said Nat. " And after 

 the young are hatched and the old birds need new coats, 

 they keep rather still while they shed their feathers, 

 because they feel weak and can't fly well." 



" Then when the new feathers come they are some- 

 times quite different from the old ones, and seldom 

 quite so bright — why is this, Nat ? " asked the Doc- 

 tor. But Nat could not think, and Rap answered: 

 " Because in the autumn when they make the long 

 journeys the leaves are falling from the trees, and if 

 they were very bright the cannibal birds would see 

 them too quickly." 



