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blue-and-orange plumage ; but we are by no means certain that these specimens are always correctly 

 labelled as males. 



Adult Male in breeding-plumage. Entire head and neck ashy blue, inclining to cobalt ; interscapulary region 

 and scaprdars blackish, slightly washed with blue; the dorsal scapularies and the whole of the centre of 

 the back pure white ; rump greyish, mottled with white, the basal portion of the feather being for the 

 most part of this colour ; upper tail-coverts cinnamon ; tail a little darker cinnamon, the two centre 

 feathers pale ashy brown, the others more or less marked on the outer web with brown ; wing-coverts 

 dark brown, the lesser ones with a slight shade of iron-grey ; quills lighter brown, the secondaries a little 

 darker, the inner ones margined with whitish at the tip ; entire throat ashy blue with a slight shade of 

 cobalt, uniform in colour to the top of the head ; rest of the under surface of the body rich orange 

 rufous, with slight remains of brown markings on the abdomen and under tail-coverts; bill and feet 

 black; iris brown. Total length 8 inches, culmen - 9, wing 4"7, tail 2 - 6, tarsus 1"15. 



Adult Male in ivinter plumage. Similar to the summer plumage, but more obscure; the whole of the head 

 margined with ashy brown, the white back obscured by dull margins to the feathers, and the rest of the 

 back, scapulars, and the upper and under wing-coverts edged with fulvous ; the throat-feathers margined 

 with ashy, and those of the rest of the orange under surface with whitish. 



Young Female. Plumage similarly mottled to that of the young male above noticed, but browner ; instead 

 of having the back white, there is no distinguishable patch of white feathers, but on separating them 

 carefully, the bases of the lower dorsal plumes will be found to be of a whitish colour ; the wing is much 

 paler, and instead of the wing-coverts being shaded with iron-grey, all the feathers are broadly margined 

 with ashy fulvous ; besides the two central tail-feathers, which are entirely ashy brown, several of the 

 other feathers are marked with this colour near the tip, and the external web of the outer feather is also 

 ashy brown. The orange of the under surface is paler and is more thickly obscured by the whitish 

 margins to the feathers, the brown transverse markings being broader and more distinct. 



Adult Female. Upper surface of the body brown, with narrow longitudinal shaft-stripes of darker brown ; 

 the nape and centre of the back somewhat tinged with cindery blue, a few of the scapulars showing an 

 obsolete fulvous tip to some of the outer feathers ; centre of the back mottled with creamy buff, the 

 basal part of the feathers being of this colour, forming a longitudinal diamond-shaped mark ; rump 

 slightly shaded with cindery blue, with faint brown tips to the feathers; upper tail-coverts pale cinna- 

 mon, with a distinct spot of brown at the tip ; tail cinnamon, the two centre feathers and the external 

 margin of the outer feather ashy brown ; wing brown, the coverts as well as the quills edged with paler 

 brown, the inner secondaries tipped with whitish ; ear-coverts brown, slightly washed 'with fulvous ; 

 cheeks and sides of the neck greyish brown, the centre of the feathers buffy white, causing a very plainly 

 mottled appearance ; chin and throat whitish ; rest of the under surface of the body buffy white, with a 

 tinge of clearer orange on the upper breast and flanks, all the feathers margined with brown, giving an 

 escalloped look to the feathers ; under wing- and tail-coverts pale orange, with a few marks of brown on 

 the former. Total length 7'5 inches, culmen 095, wing 4'55, tail 2 - 5, tarsus 1 - 1. 



Obs. In describing the above birds we have in a great measure taken it for granted that the sexes differ in 

 the manner indicated in all works on ornithology, viz. that the adult male is a blue-and-orange bird 

 and that the female is always spotted ; nor have we as yet seen any specimen which disproves this fact. 

 It should, however, be noted that some females have much more blue on the head and rump than 

 others ; and we think that the plumages of the female should be made a subject for further study, when 

 we remember that the hen of the Blue Rock-Thrush after maintaining a spotted plumage for several 

 seasons ultimately puts on a blue livery like that of the adult male. That the female of the present 



