66 BRITISH SEA BIRDS. 



the summer plumage of the adult. At the beginning 

 of autumn, however, these bright colours begin to 

 be changed for a dress which resembles the winter 

 plumage of their parents. This is not effected, 

 however, by a moult, but by a change in colour of 

 the feathers, only the very worn and abraded ones 

 being actually replaced. In the spring following, 

 these immature birds moult into summer plumage, 

 similar to that of the adults, although the wing 

 coverts retain their hue, characteristic of summer or 

 the breeding season, until the next autumn, when 

 for the first time these feathers are changed for 

 the gray or brown ones of winter. It should here 

 be remarked that the wing coverts of the adults 

 seem only to be moulted in the autumn, so that this 

 portion of their plumage is always the same colour 

 after the bird reaches the adult stage of its 

 existence. The phenomenon of the alteration of 

 colour in the plumage of birds, and especially 

 in Limicoline species, without moulting or an 

 absolute change of the feathers, is a profoundly 

 interesting one. One of the most remarkable 

 facts in connection with this phenomenon is the 

 restoration of the worn and ragged margins of 

 the feathers in some Limicoline species to a 

 perfect condition without a change or moult of 

 the notched and damaged feather. Schlegel was 

 the first naturalist, apparently, to discover that this 

 wonderful renovation took place, but his statements 

 seem to have been doubted by naturalists. Fortun- 



