You might divide all the colors of birds into two classes--those that depend upon pigments in the feathers, and those that depend upon the play of light on the feathers." "That's pretty hard to remember," said Nat; "but I know how a soap-bubble looks, though I never saw any birds look that way.

Please show us one." "I will show you two," answered the Doctor, who then went to his glass case, and took out a Wild Pigeon and a Hummingbird.

"Look at the shining tints on the neck of this Pigeon, and see how the throat of this Hummingbird glitters when I turn it to the light." "That's the prettiest color I ever saw," said Nat, "and I can remember about it now.

But," he added, thinking of the way he had seen hens mope when they were moulting, "does it hurt birds to lose their feathers, uncle ?" "It is probably not as comfortable as being nicely dressed, and sometimes they seem quite miserable, especially if they shed old feathers faster than new ones can grow to replace the lost ones.

Some birds, like Ducks, lose their wing-feathers all at once, and cannot fly for quite a while.