loo CHILDHOOD OF ANIMALS 



brilliant copy of the male, with a shorter crest and a dimmer lustre. 

 When the breeding season is over, there is a second moult and both 

 sexes appear in the winter garment of repentance. In this case the 

 " eclipse " plumage coincides with winter, and the breeding plumage 

 with summer. The next example I shall take is that of a very 

 different kind of bird. The beautiful little passerine bird known 

 as the superb tanager, and often seen in zoological gardens, is a 

 jewel of colour, shining with green, orange and shades of purple and 

 blue, the female being only less brilliant than the male. These re- 

 splendent garbs are the breeding plumage and are retained for 

 rather more than half the year. There is then a moult, and both 

 males and females pass into a dull brown eclipse plumage in which 

 it is very difficult to distinguish them. The contrast is not always so 

 great as in the two cases I have taken, and it is more common for the 

 female to remain comparatively dull even after moulting into the 

 breeding plumage. Nor is the division of the year between the two 

 plumages usually so regular. A dull eclipse livery for both sexes for 

 the greater part of the year, with a bright breeding dress at least for 

 the male for a smaller part of the yeaj, is the most common state of 

 affairs. 



No set of birds display more brilliant patterns and fantastic decora- 

 tions than are to be found amongst ducks, where, however, the drakes 

 are bright whilst the females show little colour change. This 

 gay plumage is found in the breeding season in its most brilliant 

 form, but, unlike the lapwings, drakes may retain it for the greater 

 part of the year. When the cares of married life are over, they 

 change into a dull eclipse livery, but instead of retaining that until 

 next spring, they put it off again after a few weeks or months, and by 

 a new moult again put on the brilliant colours, although the whole 

 winter has to be spent before spring recalls them to love. In some 

 ducks, especially those of South America, the eclipse plumage either 

 does not occur, or lasts so short a time that it has not been noticed, 

 or is merely a paler copy of the usual garb. In many of the game birds 

 there is the same double moult, but the eclipse plumage is shown 

 only by a few dull feathers, visible to the expert, but making little 

 difference in the general appearance of the bird. Amongst these, 

 also, the males have the resplendent colours. Lastly, there are a 

 number of birds, such as parrots and kingfishers, in which there is no 

 change throughout the year, but the most brilliant colours are re- 

 tained permanently, and when the single annual moult occurs an 

 identical livery is assumed. In these birds the males and females 



