92 FLAPPERS TO FLYERS. 
until they have attained a shingle-like appearance. 
Now the stimulating food they have previously en- 
joyed materially assists them, for the process of moult- 
ing greatly depresses the system. As their wing feath- 
ers grow they test them in short flights, thereby ren- 
dering themselves more capable of longer ones in 
their battle with the world. The drake about this time 
rejoins his family (speaking generally of all the 
species), and they are taught to dive and tip up ac- 
cording to their species, whether divers or non-divers, 
and learn from the association of their parents the in- 
tricate science of duck lore. 
They differ in plumage from their parents, and it 
may be taken as a rule, when their parents are nearly 
alike in plumage, they differ entirely; but when the 
parent birds differ widely in coloration, they stick to 
their mother’s colors. 
