COLOR AND FOOD. 39 Much remains to be learned on this subject of the molt, and, although confinement is known to affect its manner and extent, I believe intelligent observation of caged birds veill lead to really valuable results. Color and Food. — In some instances it is known that a bird's color is affected by the nature of its food. It is a common practice among bird fanciers to alter the color of Canaries from yellow to orange-red by feeding them on red pepper. This food, however, is said to have no effect upon adult birds, but must be fed to nestlings. Sau- ermann's experiments, as quoted by Beddard, show that the red color is not caused by the capsicin or red pig- ment in the pepper, but by a fatty substance termed triolein. Fed to white fowls, their breasts became red, while the rest of the plumage remained unchanged. It is also stated that dealers alter the color of green Parrots to yellow by feeding them on the fat of certain fishes. Flamingoes and Scarlet Ibises when kept in captivity lose their bright red colors and become dingy pink or even soiled white, and some animal dealers have acquired a reputation for restoring their natural tints by supplying them with food the nature of which is kept a secret. Our Purple Finch turns to yellow in captivity. An adult male now in my possession is undergoing his second molt since capture a year ago, and it will evidently leave him without a single red feather. Other wild birds when caged are known to assume more or less abnormal plumages, due, it is supposed, to change in food. There is, however, very little exact information on this subject, and it offers an excellent opportunity for the patient in- vestigator. Colo7' and Climate*— Color is a much more variable character than form. There are but few instances in
- Read Allen, Bulletin of ]Museum of Comparative Zoology (Cam-
bridge, Mass.), vol. ii, No. 3, 1871, pp. 186-250.
