6 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 429 



Females 



Bi-weekly observations on molting behavior of females began in the summer 

 of 1938 and were continued each year to the fall of 1944. Exhibition-bred fe- 

 males were studied only during 1938, 1939, and 1940, and no females of this group 

 were used for breeding purposes. A comparison may thus be made in molting 

 behavior of exhibition-bred females and production-bred females in three genera- 

 tions. Molt observations were begun near the end of July and were usually 

 discontinued near the end of December. Females have been divided into two 

 groups on the basis of whether or not they had completed the wing primary molt 

 during the period of observation. 



Table 2.— Annual Molt in Females, 1938-1940. 

 Time required and date of completion 



♦Observations were not made on the breast region the first year. 



TIME REQUIRED FOR MOLTING 



In table 2 data are presented on the rate of molting in different feather tracts, 

 for purposes of comparing exhibition-bred and production-bred stock. 



In the group of females that completed the wing molt during the period of 

 observation, exhibition- and production-bred birds molted in five of the feather 

 tracts in about the same number of days. For the wing primary feathers, how^- 

 ever, the production-bred stock required about 27 days more than the exhibition- 

 bred. 



The production-bred birds finished molting on a later date than the exhibition- 

 bred, except in the back region, where there was no difference. The average date 

 of completing molt of the wing primary feathers was about two weeks later in 



