18         MR.  W.  YARRELL  ON  THE  LAWS  WHICH  APPEAR  TO  INFLUENCE 
I  ruff  and  head  feathers  appeared  almost  immediately,  and  were  perfected  by  the  4th  of 
May.  This  bird  began  to  shed  his  ruff  feathers  on  the  8th  of  June,  and  by  the  6th  of 
July  he  had  lost  them  all. 
\  The  feathers  that  formed  the  ruff  round  the  neck  of  this  same  bird  in  the  spring  of 
1831  were  ash-coloured  ;  but  the  feathers  that  ornamented  the  same  part  during  the 
spring  of  1832  were  decidedly  black. 
Mandarin  Duck. — Anas  galericulata.  Linn. 
The  male  bird  commenced  moulting  oft"  his  breeding  plumage  about  the  24th  of  May, 
and  by  the  3rd  of  July  he  so  much  resembled  the  female  in  the  colour  of  his  plumage, 
that  it  was  a  matter  of  some  difficulty  to  distinguish  them  unless  by  a  close  in- 
spection. He  remained  in  this  state  until  the  22nd  of  August,  when  he  began  to  shed 
the  feathers  which  were  to  be  replaced  by  others  of  a  more  brilliant  colour,  and  on  the 
25th  of  September  he  appeared  in  his  perfect  breeding  plumage.  In  this  last  moulting 
the  bird  did  not  shed  all  his  feathers,  as  in  the  spring, — but  only  those  that  gave  place 
to  new  ones  of  a  more  brilliant  colour.  The  wing  and  tail  primaries,  and  the  plainer 
feathers,  were  those  produced  in  spring. 
Summer  Duck. — Anas  Sponsa,  Linn.    Dendronessa  Sponsa,  Swainson. 
The  male  of  this  species  began  to  moult  off  his  breeding  plumage  about  the  14th  of 
June,  and  by  the  29th  of  July  his  feathers  differed  but  little  in  colour  from  those  of  the 
female.    He  remained  in  this  state  until  the  24th  of  August,  when  he  began  to  shed 
those  feathers  whose  places  were  to  be  occupied  by  others  of  a  more  brilliant  colour, 
and  on  the  27th  of  September  he  was  in  full  plumage.    The  wing  and  tail  primaries, 
and  some  plain  feathers,  remained  as  in  spring.    A  brood  of  Summer  Ducks  was  hatched 
on  the  17th  of  July,  and  by  the  18th  of  September  the  young  birds  had  completed  their 
first  feathers.   They  then  commenced  a  partial  moulting,  and  by  the  14th  of  November 
were  in  as  perfect  a  state  of  plumage  as  the  parent  birds. 
Cormorant. — Carbo  Cormoranus,  Meyer. 
Some  white  feathers  on  the  side  of  the  head  and  neck  began  to  appear  on  the  4th  of 
January  1832,  and  arrived  at  their  greatest  perfection  by  the  26th  of  February.  They 
remained  in  this  state  till  the  2nd  of  April,  when  they  began  gradually  to  disappear, 
and  by  the  1 2th  of  May  were  wholly  lost,  having  been  fifty-three  days  arriving  at  per- 
I  fection,  thirty-six  days  stationary,  and  forty  days  disappearing, — making  together  a 
period  of  eighteen  weeks  three  days.    These  feathers  are  new  ones,  much  longer  than 
the  black  feathers  of  the  same  part,  rounded  in  form,  and  in  some  degree  resembhng 
bristles.    Some  white  feathers  began  to  appear  on  the  thighs  of  the  same  bird  on  the 
25th  of  January,  and  the  patch  was  completed  in  five  weeks.    These  white  feathers 
/began  to  disappear  about  the  16th  of  June,  and  by  the  20th  of  July  were  almost  en- 
jtirely  gone.    A  young  Cormorant  brought  to  the  Garden  in  the  summer  of  1830,  did 
not  go  through  any  change  during  the  summer  of  1832. 
