26 THE FIRST BOOK OF BIRDS 
The soft feathers that cover his body drop 
out one by one. Thus all the time he is putting 
on a new suit he still wears part of the old one. 
In this way he is never left without clothes for a 
moment. 
Most birds put on their new suits just after 
the young ones are grown up, and before they 
all start for the South to spend the winter, — that 
is, with many of our common birds, in August. 
At that time they are rather shy, and stop sing- 
ing. If you did not see one now and then, you 
might think they were all gone. 
Sometimes the new fall suit is not at all lke 
the old one. There is the goldfinch, all summer 
in bright yellow. When he comes out in his 
new suit in August, it is dull-colored, much like 
the one his mate wears all the year, and in win- 
ter, when goldfinches fly around in little flocks, 
they look nearly all alike. 
In the spring, the male goldfinch comes out 
again in yellow. He has two suits a year,—a 
bright yellow one in the spring, and a dull olive- 
green for the winter. But his new spring dress 
is not a full suit. The yellow of the body is all 
fresh, but the black wings are the same the year 
round. 
Some birds have two, different colored dresses 
in a year; one they get without changing a 
