THE MOULTING OF BIRDS. 157 



scapulars and innermost secondaries ; but after the 

 autumn moult, all trace of chestnut is lost, and the upper 

 parts are grayish brown, and the underparts white, 

 barred and streaked with brown on the neck, breast, 

 flanks, and under tail coverts. The Godwit, the Curlew 

 Sandpiper, the Dunlin, the Phalaropes, the Sanderling, 

 and the Ruff, are all remarkably good instances, the 

 difference between summer and winter plumage being 

 exceedingly marked. In the Gulls and Terns, the changes 

 between summer and winter plumage are not so marked. 

 The differences are most striking in the Gulls, which don 

 black hoods in spring, and lose them in autumn (except 

 a few indications on the nape, ear coverts and lores), as 

 for instance the Black-headed Gull, the Little Gull and 

 Bonaparte's Gull. The feathers of these parts are not 

 shed, but change colour. In the larger Gulls, such as the 

 Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, the principal 

 difference between summer and winter plumage is that, 

 during the latter season, the head and sometimes the 

 neck and ear coverts are streaked with gray. It is 

 perhaps worthy of remark, that in all these birds which 

 have a double moult the sexes are almost alike in 

 colour. 



Before passing on to our next division it may perhaps 

 prove interesting to briefly trace the progress of the 

 young birds to maturity. These phases of plumage and 

 the length of time which elapses during their succession 



