76 
edly asserted on similar authority; being 
however in possession of the aerie, the means 
were in our power of fully determining the 
point in question; and to enable me to ob- 
serve and note the changes that might take 
place in the plumage, I undertook the care 
of the whole brood. 
" At this time the two largest had thrown 
out many feathers, sufficient to discover the 
plumage of the Ring-tail approaching ; the 
other, by its appearance, must have been 
hatched much later. In about a month it 
was evident from size, that there was but 
one male, so that all my hopes rested on 
this single life. As they became full fea- 
thered, there was at first no distinction in 
plumage, but the eyes of the supposed male 
were always lighter than those of the others, 
whose irides were so dark as not to be dis- 
tinguished at a small distance from the pupil 
In the dress of the Ring-tail, the whole con- 
tinued through the winter, when the one 
which had been weakly from the first died. 
This circumstance induced me to force a 
premature change in some of the quill and 
tail feathers of the others, fearing some acci-: 
