212 Gray Days of Birds [FIRST WEEK 



head is half replaced with a ring of green, and perhaps a 

 splash of the latter decorates the middle of his back. When 

 he flies the light shows through his wings in two long 

 narrow slits, where a pair of primaries are lacking. It is 

 a wise provision of Nature which regulates the moulting 

 sequence of his flight feathers, so that only a pair shall 

 fall out at one time, and the adjoining pair not before the 

 new feathers are large and strong. A sparrow or oriole 

 hopping along the ground with angular, half-naked wings 

 would be indeed a pitiful sight, except to marauding 

 weasels and cats, who would find meals in abundance on 

 every hand. 



Let us take our way to some pond or lake, thick with 

 duckweed and beloved of wild fowl, and we shall find a 

 different state of affairs. We surprise a group of mallard 

 ducks, which rush out from the overhanging bank and dive 

 for safety among the sheltering green arrowheads. But 

 their outspread wings are a mockery, the flight feathers 

 showing as a mere fringe of quill sticks, which beat the 

 water helplessly. 



Another thing we notice. Where are the resplendent 

 drakes? Have they flown elsewhere and left their mates 

 to endure the dangers of moulting alone? Let us come 

 here a week later and see what a transformation is taking 

 place. When most birds moult it is for a period of several 

 months, but these ducks have a partial fall moult which 

 is of the greatest importance to them. When the wing 

 feathers begin to loosen in their sockets an unfailing in- 

 stinct leads these birds to seek out some secluded pond, 

 where they paitently await the moult. The sprouting, 



