38 COLOR AND AGE. | 
Color and Age.—All birds have a special nestling 
plumage. With those that run or swim at birth, such 
as Grouse, Snipe, and Ducks, this is a full suit of down, 
which may be worn for several weeks. With those 
birds which are helpless when hatched—for instance, 
Robins, Sparrows, and Orioles—this downy covering is 
so scanty that they are practically naked. This birth 
dress is followed by a new growth, known as the “ first 
plumage.” Down-covered birds do not acquire this for 
some time, but with those birds that are born nearly 
naked it begins to grow soon after they are hatched, and 
is almost complete when they leave the nest. The first 
plumage is often unlike that of either parent; for ex- 
ample, the spotted plumage of the Robin. It is worn for 
several months by some species—certain Snipe and others 
—but with most land birds it is soon exchanged for the 
costume they will wear through the winter, usually 
termed the “immature plumage.” This may resemble 
that of either parent respectively—that is, immature 
males may be like adult males and immature females like 
adult females, as with the Bob-white and Cardinal Gros- 
beak; or the immature birds of both sexes may resemble 
the adult female, as with the Hummingbird and Bobolink. 
Again, the immature birds of both sexes may be unlike 
either of the adults, as with'the Eagle end most Hawks; 
or the immature female may resemble the adult female, 
while the immature 1nale is unlike cither parent, as in the 
case of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Scarlet Tanager. 
When both parents are alike, the young generally resem- 
ble them, and this happens among most of our land birds; 
for example, the Flycatchers, Crows and Jays, many 
Sparrows, Vireos, Wrens, and Thrushies. 
Immature birds, differing from the adults, may ac- 
quire the adult plumage the next spring, as with the 
Bobolink, or they may then don a second or transition 
