s6 ] How to Understand the Birds 



In each case we see the same principle at work: The mother 

 birds that must look after the eggs and babies do not attract 

 notice. Meanwhile the arrestingly colored males can remain at a 

 suitable distance from the nest, distracting the attention of 

 squirrels or other possible enemies. 



You may notice an interesting phase of protective coloration 

 in birds that are "molting." When the males of certain species 

 lose their bright feathers after the mating season, they develop 

 new ones of somber hues. By fall the male scarlet tanager is the 

 same dull yellow green as his mate; both male and female bobolink 

 become sparrow-like in appearance; and the bright yellow body- 

 feathers of the goldfinch have given way to others of dull yellow 

 brown. So garbed, the male birds are fairly inconspicuous until 

 the time comes again for them to be gaily attractive to the females. 



New Feathers for Old 



If late summer happens to be the time that your boy or girl 

 starts to show a more than casual interest in birds, the subject 

 of molting makes the most dramatic theme to explore. Some 

 species lose their worn and faded feathers in August, and by 

 September have a completely new plumage. Among the excep- 

 tions to this schedule are waterfowl, which begin to molt in June. 

 By September they have passed through two molts, during which 

 they took on and discarded a dull plumage. 



Unless there is a definite change in a bird's coloration during 

 molting, the process is not easy to observe, since the change is 

 gradual. Starting with one certain feather usually this is the inner- 

 most primary wing feather it continues over the wings until all 

 are replaced. The feathers of some kinds of birds develop all over 

 the body at the same time, while on others the development comes 

 in patches. Ducks, grebes, loons and other swimming birds which 

 do not depend on flight as their only means of locomotion, molt 

 all feathers at the ends of the wings (the primaries) within a 

 very short time. 



Feathers do not grow haphazardly over a bird's body, but are 

 arranged in definite lines or patches (called "feather tracts") 



