BIRDS OF PREY 163 



There have been long discussions about -the 

 changes in his plumage. Why do not the people 

 interested in that matter keep them as pets ? That 

 would soon settle the question. 



All the birds of prey are some time in arriving at 

 full plumage, and even then they do not retain it all 

 for any length of time. Fresh feathers, a few at a 

 time, are always replacing old ones. If such were 

 not the case the birds would starve, for how could 

 they manage to exist if they moulted like other 

 birds? It must be remembered they have to get 

 their living by pursuing other creatures. It is a rare 

 thing not to find stub feathers somewhere about a 

 hawk or an owl when you shoot it, if you examine 

 his plumage. With regard to the stay or departure 

 of certain classes of birds, you cannot take the par- 

 ticular set time which has been laid down for them 

 as a rule for granted ; for instance, the common red- 

 winged thrush or redwing, the Norwegian nightin- 

 gale, I know, has been found in full song, perched 

 on a willow hanging over a mill pool, within five 

 minutes' walk of a town, long after his race had been 

 generally supposed to have gone for the season. 



To see the duck-hawk at his best go to the flats 

 after a scorching midsummer day when a thunder- 

 storm is coming up. Most creatures feed sharp 



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