THE MOULTING OF BIRDS. 163 



wedding garments in December. It is also worthy 

 of remark that the sexes in these three families of birds 

 present little or no differences in colour. 



The progress of the young to maturity is as follows. 

 In the Crows, the young birds even in their first 

 plumage, closely resemble their parents. In the Wag- 

 tails and Pipits, the changes which take place between 

 youth and maturity are much more pronounced. The 

 former birds in their first plumage, and after their 

 moult in their first autumn, very closely resemble the 

 adult female. After their first spring moult, the young 

 males are almost in the adult dress, which is finally 

 assumed by both sexes in the second autumn moult, 

 when the birds are a little over a year old. Young 

 Pipits very closely resemble their parents, but their 

 plumage, especially previous to the first moult, is more 

 suffused with yellow and buff, and the under parts are 

 more profusely spotted and streaked, the marks being 

 larger and bolder than in the adults. It is almost 

 needless to say that the young of the Crows, the 

 Wagtails, and the Pipits, are hatched naked and blind. 

 The advance to maturity among Game Birds is speci- 

 ally interesting. The young chicks are able to run as 

 soon as they are hatched, and almost immediately 

 begin to grow quills, so that in a very short time they 

 are able to fly. As the chicks grow, these quills gradu- 

 ally drop out and are replaced by larger ones, so that 



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