COLOR AND FOOD. 39 



Much remains to be learned on this subject of the 

 molt, and, although confinement is known to affect its 

 manner and extent, I believe intelligent observation of 

 caged birds will lead to really valuable results. 



Color <Xnd Food. — In some instances it is known that 

 a bird's color is affected by the nature of its food. It is 

 a common practice among bird fanciers to alter the color 

 of Canaries from yellow to orange-red by feeding them 

 on red pepper. This food, however, is said to have no 

 effect upon adult birds, but must be fed to nestlings. San- 

 ermann's experiments, as quoted by Beddard, show that 

 the red color is not caused by the capsicin or red pig- 

 ment in the pepper, but by a fatty substance termed 

 triolein. Fed to white fowls, their breasts became red, 

 while the rest of the plumage remained unchanged. It 

 is also stated that dealers alter the color of green Parrots 

 to yellow by feeding them on the fat of certain fishes. 



Flamingoes and Scarlet Ibises when kept in captivity 

 lose their bright red colors and become dingy pink or 

 even soiled white, and some animal dealers have acquired 

 a reputation for restoring their natural tints by supplying 

 them with food the nature of which is kept a secret. 



Our Purple Finch turns to yellow in captivity. An 

 adult male now in my possession is undergoing his second 

 molt since capture a year ago, and it will evidently leave 

 him without a single red feather. Other wild birds 

 when caged are known to assume more or less abnormal 

 plumages, due, it is supposed, to change in food. There 

 is, however, very little exact information on this subject, 

 and it offers an excellent opportunity for the patient in- 

 vestigator. 



Color and Climate* — Color is a much more variable 

 character than form. There are but few instances in 



* Read Allen, Bulletin of Museum of Comparative Zoology (Cam- 

 bridge, Mass.), vol. ii, No. 3, 1871, pp. 186-250. 



