XXVIII 
DIFFERENT COLORED SUITS 
A Brrp does not always wear the same colored 
dress, as I said in the chapter on moulting. A 
goldfinch, who through the summer wears a gay 
yellow coat, comes out in the fall in plain olive. 
and black; and the scarlet tanager, who flour- 
ishes in the most brilliant red, changes to a quiet 
green in winter. Besides these, some birds wear 
at one season a spotted coat, and come out after- 
wards in one of plain colors. 
Most of them change by moulting, as I ex- 
plained, the old feathers dropping out and new 
ones of another color coming in; or, to speak 
exactly, the new ones growing out and pushing 
the old ones off on their tips. But some change 
color without moulting. All birds moult com- 
pletely in the autumn, many moult partially in 
the spring, and some, as I said, change without 
moulting. 
This last change of color is made partly by 
fading, and partly by breaking off the tips of the 
