Vol. III. 

 1903 



Milligan, Notes on a Trip to the Stirling Range. I 5 



2j miles, and produced three male birds as the result of his labours. 

 From what has been stated cabinet naturalists will perceive that 

 their brothers in the field make many sacrifices in the interest 

 and pursuit of a common study. 



Although there is not, perhaps, any doubt that the birds we 

 secured were M . pulcherrimus, nevertheless there are some minor 

 differences between them and Gould's bird which it may be 

 desirable to mention. In the first place, the total length of 

 Gould's bird is given as ^ in. and the tail as 3^ in. In the 

 Stirling Range bird the total length is f of an inch greater, 

 but the tail measurements are equal, thus confining the difference 

 to the body length, which is material. Gould's measurements, 

 however, are not always reliable, and as an example of such let 

 me mention a similar inaccuracy in Gould's recorded measure- 

 ments of M . elegans. Again, Gould gives the measurements 

 of the bill of his bird as ^ of an inch. Obviously this is an 

 error, and should read T V I think, therefore, these points of 

 difference may be put aside. 



Now, on the question of colour, Gould gives the colours of the 

 crown of the head and eye-spaces of his bird as glossy violet-blue 

 and verditer blue respectively. In the Stirling Range bird the 

 colours are deep violet-blue with a purple glint and light cobalt 

 respectively. Possibly, and probably, on comparison, the shades 

 of blue in each bird would prove identical, and the differences 

 may only rest in the discrimination of the respective writers. 

 Some other minor differences appear in the tail colours and in 

 the purity of the white on the abdomen, but these may be regarded 

 as trivial. xA.ttention, however, must be directed to the facts 

 that in each of the Stirling Range birds dingy brown feathers 

 appear in the cap, and that the upper tail coverts are of the 

 same shade. Upon these facts the following questions arise : — 

 (a) Must these dingy brown feathers be taken to be permanent ? 

 (b.) If not, are they the badges of approaching adolescence ? and 

 (c.) If not, are they the remnants of a plumage being cast off ? 



The persistency of the brown feathers almost negatives the 

 notion of their being the badge of approaching adolescence, for 

 according to the law of averages it is scarcely possible that five male 

 birds could be shot promiscuously and all prove young males. 



As against the first notion the additional fact must be recorded 

 that the season was an abnormally late one, and that in one 

 specimen the uppermost tail feathers showed they were last year's 

 by their faded and abraded appearance, and that in another 

 specimen the uppermost and undermost pairs of tail feathers 

 were only f- of an inch long — all which point to a moult in progress. 

 As a counter fact, however, it may be stated that we shot male 

 birds of M . elegans and M . splendens all of which were in com- 

 plete new plumage. 



If the first and second questions are to be answered in the 

 negative, then the theory that the adult male annually assumes 

 a nuptial plumage is well founded. To say with definiteness 



