88 Wonders of the Bird World 



Allen of New York wrote a paper in which he ridiculed 

 the ideas on the subject, which had received attention from 

 a number of European naturalists of the highest repute, 

 since the year 1820 and onwards. His memoir is a com- 

 plete resume of all that has been written on the subject, 

 and as to his conclusions, I join issue with him at once. 

 Professor Allen writes — "The perfected feather, though worn 

 for from a few weeks to a year, according to the species 

 and the character of the feather, is in one sense practically a 

 dead organ, inasmuch as it is insusceptible of further growth 

 or repair." As to the replenishing of the barbules of 

 a feather after they have once become lost, Professor 

 Allen is doubtless right, as such a thing would be im- 

 possible. A barbule once lost must be lost for ever, and 

 certainly could not be replaced. In the case of a deficiency 

 in this respect, the only possible renewal of the pattern of 

 a feather would be by a complete moult of the feather in 

 question. It is, therefore, a little surprising that so good 

 an observer as the late Heinrich Gatke could suppose that 

 the Wood-Sandpiper (Rhyacophilns glareold), after having 

 the white notches on the quills worn out by reason of the 

 abrasion of the barbules, could renew the latter, involving 

 a reinstalment of the structural portion of the feather. Gatke 

 was apparently unaware of the spring moult in Wading 

 Birds, and it is certain that the Wood- Sandpipers with 

 worn-out markings of the quills did not replace them by 

 any restoration of the pattern of the old feather, but simply 

 by a complete moult. Professor Allen's criticisms have 

 been challenged by Mr. J. G. Millais in the ' Ibis ' for 1896 

 (p. 451), whose conclusions agree with those of myself 

 and other European naturalists as to the possibility of a 

 change of pattern in certain species. His proofs are 

 confined to certain Grebes and Wading-birds, but in 1897 

 Dr. Chadbourne made some valuable experiments on 

 the colouration of feathers in the Bobolink (Dolichonj/x 



