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tip. In the commencement of the following year the first appearance of a blue plumage takes place, 

 not by a moult, but by a gradual change in the feathers. By the end of February or the beginning of 

 March, a blue shade pervades the whole body, which still, however, preserves the remains of the young 

 mottled dress. It has now to be proved whether the latter is entirely lost during the second year; the 

 absence of specimens precludes our proving this point satisfactorily; for we should have supposed that 

 by March the bird would be in full or nearly full breeding-dress. At all events a female procured by 

 Mr. Salrin in Tunis, on the 8th of the last-mentioned month, is in full blue livery, with only slight 

 remains on the breast of the brown edgings characteristic of the winter plumage. 



Explanation of the Plate. The figure on the left hand represents a male in adult blue dress, and gives a good 

 illustration of the plumage in which most specimens in collections are seen. It will be noticed that the 

 remains of a few whitish markings on the chest indicate that the bird is not fully adult ; but it will 

 scarcely be credited how rarely birds in perfect plumage, without a trace of these crescent-shaped Lines, 

 are to be met with. On the right-hand side of the Plate is drawn a female after breeding ; this speci- 

 men is a bird of the previous year which has not fully attained the adult dress. In the background on 

 the left will be seen a female gaining the blue plumage. 



The present bird is found chiefly in the countries bordering the Mediterranean; in winter it 

 extends into North-west India; but how far it ranges to the eastward, and whether the true 

 P. cyanus really visits China, will be a matter for our further consideration. At present we 

 believe that P. solitarius, Mull., takes its place in the Eastern Archipelago and Malacca, as well 

 as the Indo-Chinese region and China proper. 



Through the kindness of Dr. Carte we have been able to examine a specimen of the Blue 

 Bock-Thrush, said to have been killed in Ireland. This bird, which is preserved in the Museum 

 of the Eoyal Dublin Society, is stated to have been shot by a Mr. Brassington in the county of 

 Meath, on November 17th, 1866. Without commenting on the unfortunate circumstances which 

 must have induced an example of this species to wander so far away from its natural habitat, and 

 to occur in Ireland in the tvinter, we may state our opinion, based on an examination of the 

 stuffed bird itself, that it has not been mounted when fresh killed, but from a previously pre- 

 pared skin. On the other hand, both Dr. Carte and Mr. A. G. More believe that the occurrence 

 of the bird was genuine ; and we therefore record the fact as being of interest, and exhibiting the 

 highest northern range of the species in Europe. 



In Germany, according to Naumann, it is only found in the south, as, for instance, in the 

 Tyrol, particularly near Trient, and occasionally near the Boden lake. Degland and Gerbe state 

 that it appears annually in the Franche-Comte, near Besancon. In Savoy, we are informed by 

 Bailly that the Blue Bock-Thrush inhabits the inaccessible rocks at the base of the Mont-du- 

 Chat, at the Brisson-Saint-Innocent, the Croix-Bouge, near Chambery, the Hermitage of Saint- 

 Saturnin, and some rocky parts covered with bushes near Aquebelle and Saint-Jean de Maurienne, 

 particularly at Epierre and Flaurichard. It is, however, nowhere common, and is only found in 

 solitary couples, scattered over the country at long intervals. It arrives about the 8th of April, 

 generally a few days before the Bock-Thrush, and comes singly, or rarely in pairs. Messrs. 

 Jaubert and Barthelemy-Lapommeraye record it as found in Frovence, all along the sea-coast, on 

 the desolate rocks round the Gulf of Lyons, and but rarely in the interior. Mr. Traherne 

 Moggridge procured specimens at Mentone, where he found it all the year round. On the 



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