The ;\Ioui,ti,\g Season. 113 



posed of three parts — the quill, the shaft, and the vein. 

 By the former is the feather held to the skin of the 

 Pigeon, the shaft grows out of the quill, running up the 

 centre of the feather, and to the shaft is the vein 

 attached. The feather grows and is nourished 

 directlj^ from the blood through a small opening at 

 tlie l)ottom through which the sustenance for the 

 feather is drawn during the whole time it is growin.g. 



This, like the veins of the leaves of a tree, in time 

 becomes choked by the accumulation of the secretions 

 of chemical matter, and the feather, like the leaf, falls 

 away from its support, because it is no longer nourished 

 and strengthened. 



The moulting' process is mar\'ellous when one 

 comes to think of it. At this time the Pigeon, in 

 common with other birds, from the elements contained 

 in its own body, produces the forces which cause its 

 old coat to be cast off and a new one to grow in all its 

 living, glowing pristine beaut5^ We are so used to 

 this wonderful process that we never staj' to think of 

 its miraculousness. Did we first see a bird moult 

 without knowing anything about it \vl- should be awe- 

 struck b}' the wonderfulness of the mystery; but be- 

 cause we grow up with it, and our eye is trained to 

 it, we fail to stoj) and think of all that the process is 

 and means. 



LIFE PRODUCES LIFE. 



In the moulting of a Pigeon the old is replaced by 

 the new, as in many other things. Life produces life, 

 and from the decay of life fresh life springs. The 

 moult commences with the desiccation of the old 

 feathers. The quills become dry and sapless, all 

 the sap is dried out of them, they lose their .stren.gth 

 and firmness, the web loses its lustre and depth of 

 colour, the quills shrink within their sockets, the sur- 

 rounding skin becomes shrivelled, and like the lea\-es 

 on the trees thev drop oft". 



Immediatelv the old feather has dropped out the 

 new begins to fill its place, even if it, like the second 

 tooth of a child, has not already had somethmg to do 

 with the ousting of its forerunner. It is obvious to 

 all even the merest tyro in natural history, or orni- 



