THE GOLDEN PLOVER. Ill 



and there is only one coat till the new one begins to sprout 

 in the autumn. The manes and tails of quadrupeds do not 

 show those changes so obviously ; and they are not clothing, 

 but ornaments. 



The analogy, and some of the facts are directly in support 

 of it, leads to the conclusion that, at least in the resident 

 birds which change their colour, what we call the autumnal 

 moult, or the moult that takes place when the breeding is 

 over, is more the production than the shedding of feathers ; 

 and that the feathers that have been in use in one breeding 

 season, and bleached by the ensuing winter, gradually fall 

 before and leave the new plumage exposed the next breed- 

 ing season. With these birds it should seem that there is 

 only one growth of feathers, namely, an autumn sprouting, 

 growing till the breeding time, and that the fall begins in 

 the spring. 



With migrant birds the case may be different ; and no doubt 

 exists that it is different with the flying feathers of all birds, 

 which fall at intervals and generally in pairs, one from each 

 side. If we did not suppose a casting of feathers in the spring 

 and early part of the summer, we should find some difficulty 

 in determining where the myriads of feathers that are used 

 in lining nests come from ; and, if we supposed a general 

 deplumation of all the birds in the latter part of the season, 

 we should find some difficulty in explaining what becomes of 

 all the feathers. 



As the season advances, the plovers begin to flock and 

 move southward, usually making the journey by short stages, 

 but accelerating it if they are followed by severe frosts or 

 falls of snow. When they stop and lodge for the night, they 

 squat upon the ground, to which, as well as to their feeding 

 in the morning, they are said to be called by the whistle of 

 one of their number j and they are sometimes drawn into 

 nets, or otherwise within the power of the fowler, by imi- 



