INTRODUCTION xxxi 



At the base of this down feather hes the germ of the 

 contour feather which is to follow. As this grows the 

 down feather is thrust out upon the tip of the new 

 contour feather, and here it may be attached for a 

 very considerable time, as in the case of young 

 Herons, for example. On its first appearance, the 

 new feather is ensheathed in a thin, delicate blue wrap- 

 per, the first-formed portion of the vane bursting its 

 way through while the lowerrnost portion of the 

 feather is yet forming. 



Moulting. — In most birds the feathers are renewed 

 annually, by the process known as moulting — a criti- 

 cal time in a bird's life. When there is a lack of suit- 

 able nourishment, or when the bird is low in vigour 

 at the moulting-season, the feathers become curiously 

 indented with fine grooves known as "hunger-marks." 



The annual moult takes place generally after the 

 breeding-season; but some birds moult again in 

 spring, when a new and more resplendent livery is put 

 on, as in the case of many of the Plover tribe; But 

 the quills in such cases are not renewed. In some of 

 the Ducks, as in the drake of the common Wild Duck, 

 a dull livery, resembling that of his mate, is assumed — 

 the so-called "eclipse" dress — during the month of 

 Jime, and this is worn for some weeks. By the 

 middle of August the new and characteristic "breed- 

 ing-dress" is well in evidence, and by October is com- 

 pleted. This "eclipse" dress, then, answers to the 

 dull dress put on after the breeding-season by the 

 Plovers, and is simply moulted again in a month or 

 two instead of being worn till the following spring. 

 Some of the Game-birds undergo a partial "eclipse" 



