DIFFERENT COLORED SUITS 119 
feathers, or what is called “ abrasion.’ This is a 
curious process. I told you something about it 
in chapter vii. Certain feathers have edges dif- 
ferent in color from the rest; as, for example, 
a black feather with tips of yellow. While the 
feathers are new and perfect, as they lie over 
each other like shingles on a roof, only the edges 
show, and these being yellow, the bird appears 
to be dressed in yellow. But the yellow tips are 
not so strong as the rest, and they break or wear 
off, or are pulled off in the spring. What is 
strange, they break exactly where the black 
begins. So as soon as the yellow is off, the black 
shows, and behold, the yellow bird suddenly 
becomes a black bird. 
That is the way some birds manage to put on 
their spring dress in the fall. The solid color is 
the color of the spring, but it is hidden or veiled 
by tips of another color for winter. 
The meadowlark changes in this way. In the 
winter his coat is brownish, or buff. In the 
spring these tips are worn or broken off, and he 
comes out in yellow and black. 
Another change, even more curious, is made 
by some birds, who all winter wear white spots, 
or light scolloped edges to their feathers, and 
in spring the spots are gone. 
In these, the white or light parts only break 
