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the young commence to moult their first primaries, secondaries, 

 and tail feathers so soon as ever they have come to their full 

 length, and before the birds get into full plumage (which they 

 do before winter) they change every feather. The young of 

 almost all other birds, except the small land birds, retain their 

 first primaries, secondaries, and tail feathers till the autumn the 

 of the following year, though sometimes some species, Snipes, 

 "Woodcocks, Godwits, and others, change some of their tail fea- 

 thers before winter (some, perhaps all of them) ; sometimes the 

 two middle feathers, sometimes those at the outside only are 

 changed. The first feathers a bird gets are smaller (both shorter 

 and narrower) than those it gets when they are cast, and some- 

 times, in consequence of the two middle feathers, or the two out- 

 side feathers only, being renewed, the shape of the tail is altered 

 for the time. I have often wondered why the Wigeon is so long 

 in getting its full plumage ; the Mallard, both old and young, 

 are in full plumage by October or November, whilst the young 

 drake "Wigeon seems to get a plain plumage after its first plum- 

 age, and only changes by slow degrees to his perfect plumage 

 many of them not having obtained the white patch on the wing 

 before leaving us in March, April, and even May the following 

 year. The old Woodcocks seem to get completely through the 

 autumnal moult before arriving in this country ; the plumage of 

 the old and young Woodcock is very similar, which makes it 

 difficult to distinguish them, much more so than the Common and 

 Great Snipe. C. M. A. (Newcastle-upon-Tyne), P.S. In 

 illustration of what I have said respecting the difference in the 

 size of the first feathers of the young bird of the year, and those 

 next got by it, I enclose two feathers from the tail of a young 

 Woodcock shot last week, the larger and more pointed one still 

 moulting, having been taken from the outside of the tail on one 

 side, the smaller feather having been taken from the outside on 

 the opposite side of the same bird. 



