452 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



and the primaries nearly as bad, still showed no new feathers ; 

 and even on 21st July another male was in much the same 

 condition. A male and a female killed on 5th August had new 

 secondaries, some of the smaller primaries, and many new body 

 feathers ; and a male and female killed on the 6th were both in 

 full moult, and the new flight-feathers and coverts very con- 

 spicuous. On the 8th a male had so far assumed the new 

 plumage, that only the first of the old quills in each wing 

 remained, all the rest, and most of the body feathers, as well as 

 the middle feathers of the tail were new, the latter reached lg- 

 in. beyond the others. On the 17th a male had retrieved all the 

 wing-feathers, except the first primaries. The whole body 

 plumage, which bore a most lovely bloom, was new except about 

 the vent, only one middle feather in the tail extended beyond the 

 others (the middle rectrices, although they appeared to be 

 almost the first feathers shed, owing, probably, to their great 

 length, were very late in attaining their full growth) ; and the 

 tarsi and toes still retained the old feathers, but much worn and 

 mixed with new feathers still in their sheaths. A female killed 

 the same day presented much the same appearance, and still 

 retained the first primary in each wing. Two males and a 

 female killed on 22nd August had acquired new plumage, still 

 with the exception of the first quill in each wing, and in one of 

 the males, the middle feathers of the tail had not yet appeared. 

 The next bird I saw in the flesh was on the 18th September ; it 

 was a female, and the moult was complete ; the whole plumage 

 was most beautiful, the colours being exceedingly delicate, and 

 the contrasts lovely. Below the gular ring the throat and chest 

 were an ash-grey, with a shade of lavender ; the middle tail- 

 feathers measured 6| in., and the wing in which the second quill 

 was still the longest, measured 8£ in. from the carpal joint. 

 This specimen is now before me, and has lost much of its 

 delicacy and bloom. A male killed on 4th October was in very 

 fine plumage, the delicate grey of the ear-coverts contrasting 

 finely with the orange-buff of the head and throat, the iris dark 

 brown, and the bare skin round the eye pale lavender; the 

 chest sooty-grey, with a shade of lavender, and the pectoral band 

 most beautifully pencilled, the abdominal band almost black, the 

 dove colour of the outer web of the primaries, and the rich 

 chestnut bar on the coverts were most beautiful in their 



