70 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. 



The lores and anterior orbital feathers are reddish, as in adult 

 female. 



Bill : Usual chocolate color of female wrens. The tail quills 

 are brown with a faint trace of blue, as those of a bird that is 

 now making its second or third moult. Judging by tails ex- 

 amined, I should say the blue wren does not carry the original 

 tail during the first year like many birds, but sheds it just before 

 the first autumn in favor of a longer and stronger one. The 

 Gallinte drop the original quills before they are one-third grown. 

 Above these, new feathers are half-way along the tail and colored 

 a light blue distinct from the others, and not nearly so blue as 

 the next and older stage. Dorsal plumage greyish-brown, 

 lighter than C. 



C. Adult female, August. Tail : Deep blue. Dorsal sur- 

 face ruddy brown and darker than in B. 



In examining six skins of Af. cyaneus, I find one is actively 

 moulting its " blues " and receiving " browns " on Jan. 26. 

 The remaining five simply show the " blues " coming in spring 

 time, but they all (except one) shew unmistakable evidences that 

 they are not receiving " blues " for the first time. They are 

 simply parallel cases to those of M. goiildii, but instead of my 

 obtaining them in late summer I have collected in late winter. 



Specimen 1.— Male, 26/1/98. Approx. -20 of the "blues" 

 on the mantle and "50 on the head. No new "blues" or 

 " blue-blacks " appearing. Crown and nape show new 

 " browns " coming, and new " browns " almost matured ; few 

 blues remaining. 



Mantle : New and almost fully matured browns. 



Back shows new "browns." 



Throat: All the new feathers are greyish-white, many showing 

 above the "blue-blacks." 



Tail : A new set of deeper blue feathers are -75 developed ; 

 the others still remain. 



Bill : Brownish-black ; between 1 — 3 years. This seems to me 

 an early moult, but as the summer of 1898 was early, and the 

 hottest for thirty years past, the bird may thus have been the 

 recipient of an early moult. 



Specimen 2. — Young male, about 9 months' old, 4 S/9-t. 



Bill, lores, legs and feet chestnutty brown. 



