ANIMAL FASHIONS 107 



sight. The mass of wattles, usually so gray and 

 shrunken, is now of most vivid hues — scarlet, blue, 

 vermilion, green, — the fleshy tassels and swollen 

 knobs making him a most extraordinary creature. 



Birds are noted for taking exquisite care of 

 their plumage, and if the feathers become at all 

 dingy or unkempt, we know the bird is in bad 

 health. 



What a time the deer and the bears, the squir- 

 rels and the mice, have when changing their 

 dress ! Eags and tatters ; tatters and rags ! One 

 can grasp a handful of hair on the flank of a 

 caribou or elk in a zoological park, and the whole 

 will come out like thistledown; while underneath 

 is seen the sleek, short summer coat. A bear will 

 sometimes carry a few locks of the long, brown 

 winter fur for months after the clean black hairs 

 of the summer 's coat are grown. What a boon to 

 human tailors such an opportunity would be — to 

 ordain that Mr. X. must wear the faded collar 

 or vest of his old suit until bills are paid ! 



It is a poor substance, indeed, which, when cast 

 aside, is not available for some secondary use in 

 Nature 's realm ; and the hairs that fall from ani- 

 mals are not all left to return unused to their 

 original elements. The sharp eyes of birds spy 

 them out, and thus the lining to many a nest is 

 furnished. I knew of one feathered seeker of 

 cast-off clothing which met disaster through try- 

 ing to get a supply at first hand — a sparrow was 



