IN JERDON OR STRAY FEATHERS. 393 



below where the white spot is present in the summer plumage 

 blue, obscured by the feathers having whitish tips ; below this 

 the black and bay bands are present, but are somewhat obscured, 

 owing" to the feathers having white tips. 



" Observations. — A male killed in December, near Malaga, now 

 in the collection of Mr. Howard Saunders, resembles the speci- 

 men last described, but has the white on the chin and throat 

 rather blurred w T ith black and slightly washed with pale yellowish 

 orange ; and I should think that it is a younger bird than that, 

 more especially as I observed that all the immature specimens 

 appear to have the throat slightly clouded with yellowish ; and 

 I find it most difficult to distinguish them from the young of 

 C. suecica in that plumage. A male, in my own collection, 

 shot at Halle, in Saxony, in the autumn, resembles the adult 

 female above described, but has the lower part of the throat 

 and upper part of the breast washed with dull blue ; and there 

 are one or two dull orange-coloured feathers on the breast, some 

 of which are narrowly tipped with blue. 



The old female probably assumes a plumage closely resem- 

 bling that of the young male, as is the case with the female of 

 G. suecica. A specimen obtained at Granada, in September 

 1870, and marked " female,' - ' has the throat and breast as in the 

 male in winter plumage above described, but has the white on 

 the throat washed with yellowish. 



I have carefully examined what specimens I have been able 

 to procure of Cyanecula wolfii, especially the form having the 

 blue throat without any central spot, and am unable to find 

 any specific difference between it and the ordinary white-spotted 

 bird. Even those which have the throat at the first glance pure 

 unspotted blue, have, on closer examination, the base of at 

 least one or two feathers white. I have before me examples 

 with the central white spot very clearly developed and large, 

 others with it smaller, and in fact there is a perfect gradation 

 between those with a large spot and those having the blue uni- 

 form and unspotted. Professor Newton (Yar. Brit. B., p. 324) 

 looks upon the unspotted bird as being distinct from the pre- 

 sent species, and states that it has the tarsus smaller, measuring 

 0*95 to 1 inch, whereas in the white-spotted bird it measures 

 1*04 to T08, aud in C. suecica from 1 inch to T18. Against 

 this I may remark that I have measured three examples of the 

 unspotted bird and compared them with three of each of the 

 white-spotted species, and 0. suecica, these latter being picked 

 out at random, merely as being extremely fine aucf adult males ; 

 and the measurements are as follows : — 



Culnien, Wing, Tail, Tarsus, 



inch. inches. inches. iucb. 



Cyanecula woljii (unspotted) GS-u 7-0-7 2-S6-285-2 9S 2 43-2-28-2-4 1-09-M2-1-0 



(white-spotted) 6S-0 71-069 284-2 93-2 78 2 3-2-11-2 33 l-05-G"95-l-03. 



Cyanecula suecica, (red-spotted) 07-07-0-67 3 02-2-9-2-8G 217-2-15-2-1C l'2-l-l-l-l. 



