. Bird-lore . oldfinchand Indigo Bunting, that the males undergo a spring or pre-nuptial molt as 304 Bird - Lore well as a fall or post-nuptial change of plumage. The pre-nuptial molt,however, is usually incomplete, for the wings and tail feathers, which are dulleven in brightly colored birds, are usually made to serve both plumages. In some birds where there is a conspicuous change in color from the winterto the breeding plumage, it is accomplished in another way known as featherwear. This is possible because each feather is tipped with a color differentfrom the main portion of the plume. The
. Bird-lore . oldfinchand Indigo Bunting, that the males undergo a spring or pre-nuptial molt as 304 Bird - Lore well as a fall or post-nuptial change of plumage. The pre-nuptial molt,however, is usually incomplete, for the wings and tail feathers, which are dulleven in brightly colored birds, are usually made to serve both plumages. In some birds where there is a conspicuous change in color from the winterto the breeding plumage, it is accomplished in another way known as featherwear. This is possible because each feather is tipped with a color differentfrom the main portion of the plume. The feather tips give the general colorto the winter plumage, but as they wear off, the color of the breeding plumageis exposed. Browns, yellows, and grays occur most frequently as color-tips,with blacks, browns, or reds beneath. The Robins breast becomes redderwith the advance of spring because the gray tips of the feathers wear off. Theblack spot on the throat of the male House Sparrow and that on the breast of. A MOLTING SPARROW The new feathers appear darker than the old ones and can be seen in the wings, scapulars, back and rump. Try to determine how far the molt has proceeded in the wings the Meadovvlark treble in size for the same reason. The Red-winged Black-bird loses his reddish-brown cast and becomes intensely black, while the SnowBunting wears away the rusty color from its head and breast and shows snowywhile for the summer. g In birds like the Purple Finch and Indigo Hunting, where there are DOapparent gray tips to the feathers and which still seem to become more in-tensely colored as the season advances, the feather wear is of a different was formerly believed that the feathers became repigmented from theblood of the bird but today that is considered impossible, because once thefeather is mature, ii is a dead structure, physiologically disconnected from thebody and serving only in a mechanical way for flight and protection. To under- The Audubon Societies 305
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