198 THE LOG OF THE SUN 



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 out- 

 spread 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 re- 

 splendent drakes 1 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 instinct leads these 

 birds to seek out some secluded pond, where they 

 patiently await the moult. The sprouting, blood- 

 filled quills force out the old feathers, and the 



