BIRDS IN THE MOULT 



The periodical loss and renewal of their feather- 

 ing, indispensable as it is for the beauty of 

 birds and the effectiveness of their wings, is 

 undoubtedly for most of them an infliction with 

 which they would probably be glad to dispense 

 were that possible. During the time they are 

 shedding their plumage they are evidently 

 weak and depressed ; the songsters are generally 

 silent, and some of the brighter-hued and highly- 

 decorated species seem almost to feel their 

 shabby condition. The golden pheasant loses 

 his activity with his ruff and tail, and the man- 

 darin drake, although nature gives him a new, 

 if sober, coat of feathers at once, loses not only 

 his pride, but also his love for his mate, as if 

 he were afraid to look her in the face when 

 not in full dress. The physical strain caused 

 by the moult also renders birds liable to succumb 

 to the influence of bad weather, such as cold or 

 wet ; and, of course, their more or less impaired 

 flight is always a source of danger. It is on 

 the moulting lark that the merlin is let fly by 

 falconers with the greatest hope of success. 

 Under the circumstances, then, it is not sur- 



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