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pale "old china" blue — as I have already mentioned 

 in the chapter on that bird — a tint which certainly 

 does not exist even in the more concealed part of the 

 feathers after his autumnal moult. 



Why, in the case of two birds so closely allied as 

 the blue thrush and the rock thrush, the former should 

 save himself the trouble of a vernal moult, whilst the 

 latter sheds every feather, except the flight feathers 

 and those of the tail, is curious. 



It is, as a rule, only by keeping certain birds alive 

 that one is able to discover the various changes of 

 plumage and the manner in which they are effected. 



