these feathers are changed for the gray or brown ones of winter. It should here be remarked that the wing coverts of the adults seem only to be moulted in the autumn, so that this portion of their plumage is always the same colour after the bird reaches the adult stage of its existence. The phenomenon of the alteration of colour in the plumage of birds, and especially in Limicoline species, without moulting or an absolute change of the feathers, is a profoundly interesting one. One of the most remarkable facts in connection with this phenomenon is the restoration of the worn and ragged margins of the feathers in some Limicoline species to a perfect condition without a change or moult of the notched and damaged feather. Schlegel was the first naturalist, apparently, to discover that this wonderful renovation took place, but his statements seem to have been doubted by naturalists. Fortunately Schlegel’s opinions have been fully confirmed by Herr Gätke; and the reader interested in the subject is referred to that great naturalist’s remarks thereon in his book on the birds of Heligoland.[1] This seasonal change of colour may be produced both by a moult and by actual transition, without cast of feather, even in the same bird: the restoration of ragged feathers and development of colour upon them may also be progressing at the same time. Thus the black markings on the head and neck of the Golden Plover are the result of colour alteration, but the black on the breast is attained by moult. The colour changes in the Sanderling, the Knot, the Dunlin, the Redshank, and numerous other allied birds, are perfectly astonishing: in the Redshank especially so, the profusely barred upper plumage being developed without change of feather, and the feathers reacquiring a pristine freshness and perfectness which seem almost incredible without a complete moult!