MAY ON THE MOORS 87 



The rapid development of flight-power in grouse — and 

 in all the game-birds — is noteworthy, being quite unique 

 in the bird-world. No other birds fly till full-grown, and 

 till they have acquired full flight-feathers, by growth, in 

 the normal course. But Nature has designed a different 

 process with the game-birds. These, no sooner than they 

 are excluded from the egg, are supplied with a set of tiny 

 primaries sufficient, within a few days, to lift them in air. 

 As the chick grows heavier, and needs more power, one 

 little primary on either side drops out and is replaced by 

 another, slightly longer, till all are renewed. As each new 

 set becomes insufficient, a new growth (always in corre- 

 sponding pairs, one in either wing) is ever ready to 

 replace it, proportioned to the increasing weight of the 

 youngster. This succession of new quills (which, in 

 grouse, are spotted with yellow) continues till the 

 period (about August) when the final moult, both of 

 quills and tail, in old and young alike, takes place. 1 At 

 the autumnal moult, but not before, the game-birds 

 range into line with the rest of the feathered world. 

 All birds alike have (by October) acquired their new 

 plumage and new quills, which have to serve them for a 

 whole twelvemonth. There are neither tailors nor dress- 

 makers in their circle ; though Nature has certainly 

 provided for certain repairs and renewals when vitally 

 necessary. Otherwise, the plumage acquired by every 

 bird in autumn must serve it for a year. 



May 31. — The young peewits are already beginning 

 to fly in flocks. Thus we can see, even as early as 

 May, the first incipient symptom of autumnal conditions. 



1 See Charles Murray Adamson's Some more Scraps about Birds, p. 7 et 

 seq. (J. Bell & Co., Newcastle-on-Tyne, 1880-81). 



