62 WILD NATURE IN STRATIIEARN. 



spring, and as soon as the Eider-Duck begins 

 to sit the glories of the drake's breeding 

 plumage begins to fade. Other birds e.g., the 

 Golden Plover, have a winter and a summer 

 plumage, the latter being called the nuptial 

 dress. This appears to be a provision of Nature 

 to protect the species from molestation and from 

 the attacks of enemies during the breeding season, 

 by making them less conspicuous and more in 

 colour harmony with their surroundings. 



Some naturalists are of opinion that the birds 

 which change their plumage in spring do not 

 moult their feathers, but that a change of colour 

 in the feather takes place, and that in some 

 cases the surface of the barbs of the feathers 

 peel off, and thus expose the bright feathers 

 beneath, and that in some of the sea birds the 

 feathers merely change colour by an increase or 

 decrease in the amount of pigment in the feather 

 without any textural change. This is difficult to 

 understand, and is not our experience, and so 

 far as it has reference to the Wild Duck it is not 



