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Wonders of the Bird World 



the throat, become abraded as spring approaches, and 

 the tips are gradually shed, so that the underlying colours 

 come to the fore, and the black feathers which we see on 

 the throat of the Sparrow are the identical ones which were 

 acquired by moult in the preceding autumn, and which 

 throughout the winter have appeared to be brown or 

 grey, owing to the light edgings with which the summer 

 plumage has been overlaid. The same takes place in 

 the Buntings and other birds, for in the Snow Bunting 

 {Plectrophena.v nivalis) and the Reed Bunting {^Eiiiberiza 

 schcenidiis) any one can prove the truth of this phenomenon, 

 by lifting the feathers of the winter plumage, when the 

 summer plumage will be found concealed by the lighter 

 edgings of the former period, and the basal portion of the 

 feathers will be found to represent the forthcoming summer 

 dress, which will be completed when the light margins of 

 the plumes shall have been shed. This fact can be studied 

 by any one who examines a Cock Sparrow killed in winter. 

 The Black Redstart {Ruticilla titys) and the Pied Flycatcher 

 {Ficedala atricapilla) are likewise birds which have their 

 summer plumage obscured by pale margins to the feathers 

 in winter, and these birds have been known, when in con- 

 finement, to attain their full summer plumage without the 

 shedding of a feather, and merely by the abrasion and 

 wearing off of the pale margins. The late Professor 

 Taczanowski told mc once an extraordinary tale with 

 respect to one of these birds. He said that he could not 

 swear to the truth of it, as it did not occur to himself, but 

 it was vouched for by one of his friends, who was a Polish 

 nobleman and a thorough naturalist, and Taczanowski 

 said that he himself believed the story to be perfectly true 

 and reliable. The naturalist in question shot a Pied Fly- 

 catcher one evening in spring, when the birds were about to 

 nest, but the bird he had killed was in grey plumage still, 

 but with indications of the black dress coming rapidly on. 



