Do you remember what I told you that rainy day in my study about this moulting or changing of feathers ?" "Yes, I do," said Rap and Nat together.

"Most birds have two coats a year, and the male's is the brighter," continued Nat eagerly, proud to show that he remembered.

"The one that comes out in the spring is the gayest, so that his mate shall admire him and when this coat comes he sings his very best and--" "Stop and take breath, my boy," laughed the Doctor; "there is plenty of time.

Why do we think that the male has the gayest feathers--do you remember that also ?" "No, I've forgotten," said Nat.
"I remember," cried Rap; "it is to please the female and because she sits so much on the nest that if her feathers were as bright as the male's her enemies would see her quicker, and when the little birds hatch out they are mostly in plain colors too, like their mother." "Oh, I remember that now," said Nat.

"And after the young are hatched and the old birds need new coats, they keep rather still while they shed their feathers, because they feel weak and can't fly well." "Then when the new feathers come they are sometimes quite different from the old ones, and seldom quite so bright--why is this, Nat ?" asked the Doctor.