FROM THE CRADLE TO THE GRAVE. 
85 
beautifying of the plumage takes place from other causes. 
They moult, however, only once a year; and by the 
time they have reached their first autumn or spring, 
they resemble the adult birds. Among migratory birds 
many leave us in autumn in their youthful plumage, 
moulting, as do their parents, in foreign lands, and 
returning to us again in their wedding dress. This is, 
however, not the case with those birds which moult twice 
a year: to this class belong the Pipits (Anthus), the 
Wagtails ( Motacilla ), Gallinaceous birds, Ducks, Mer¬ 
gansers and others; and, in some degree, also the 
Herons, the Ruffs, Cormorants, &c. These obtain their 
most beautiful feathers just before the breeding season, 
and lose them shortly after; attaining their full colour 
generally only after two or three seasons. With Gallina¬ 
ceous birds, moulting, as we have before shown, takes 
place in a manner peculiar to themselves. The down of the 
first, or what we may call the down-dress, which is found 
on the ends of the feathers, is soon worn off; but these 
feathers, also, do not last long, but are, in a short time, 
replaced by others. Thus, a continuous changing of 
the feathers takes place without interruption, from the 
moment of hatching, until the wedding plumage is 
assumed. The Capercaillie (Tetrao Urogallus ) changes 
its plumage five times, inclusive of the first downy 
covering, in the space of from four to six months. With 
others of the same family this change proceeds more 
rapidly, but takes place in a similar manner. 
Most of the Dentirostres, or tooth-billed birds, moult 
partially, for the first time, in the spring, and the second 
time completely in the autumn; for it is only during this 
last change, as is the case with all birds subject to a 
double moult, that the pinion and quill tail-feathers are 
