38 THE SPRING OF THE YEAR 



wing feathers are not then renewed as are bobolink's, 

 but only at the annual moult after the nesting is 

 done. The great feathers of the wings are, as you 

 know, the most important feathers a bird has; and 

 the shedding of them is so serious a matter that 

 Nature has come to make the change according to 

 the habits and needs of the birds. With most birds 

 the body feathers begin to go first, then the wing 

 feathers, and last those of the tail. But the shedding 

 of the wing feathers is a very slow and carefully 

 regulated process. 



In the wild geese and other water birds the wing 

 feathers drop out with the feathers of the body, and 

 go so nearly together that the birds really cannot 

 fly. On land you could catch the birds with your 

 hands. But they keep near or on the water and thus 

 escape, though times have been when it was neces- 

 sary to protect them at this season by special laws ; 

 for bands of men would go into their nesting- 

 marshes and kill them with clubs by hundreds ! 



The shedding of the feathers brings many risks 

 to the birds ; but Nature leaves none of her children 

 atterly helpless. The geese at this time cannot fly 

 because their feathers are gone ; but they can swim, 

 and so getaway from most of their natural enemieSo 

 On the other hand, the hawks that hunt by wing, and 

 must have wings always in good feather, or else perish, 

 lose their feathers so slowly that they never feel their 

 loss. It takes a hawk nearly a year to get a complete 



