480 ON THE VARIETIES OF ANIMALS. 



adaptation of their colour to their haunts and wants. The Moor Buzzard varies 

 very frequently in plumage. I have seen one with the head quite brown, uniform 

 in colour with the rest of the plumage, or nearly so, excepting the chin, which 

 was white. — Another had the head buff-coloured, mottled with the same colour, 

 or between that and white on the nape of the neck and the chin, with a few 

 white feathers on the breast, shoulders, and back, and one or two on the outside 

 of the wing. 



The Common Buzzard is subject to great variety, some being very dark, and 

 almost black (one in my collection, a noble bird, is the darkest I have ever seen), 

 and others with an almost equal admixture of white feathers with the brown, 

 and they too of a lighter cast,: — also every intermediate variety. I have seen a 

 Hare of a blue silvery colour, its nose white, the head, cheeks, and ears light 

 brown, the latter bordered with white. Is the Pheasant with the white ring 

 round its neck, which is sometimes seen (Phasianus torquatus), a distinct species, 

 as is, I believe, generally supposed, or not ? I can hardly think it is, as we see 

 some with so very little of the white mark, compared to what others have. One 

 of the most singular varieties that I have ever seen was a Wild Duck of a gene- 

 ral ash-colour, the speculum of a very dull lead-colour, the tail a kind of buff ; 

 the back was mottled with light brown, the breast of the same colour, and 

 the neck and head were like those of the common Wild Duck, but of rather a 

 lighter shade. 



Besides the varieties of the Blackbird mentioned in my last communication, I 

 have seen one with a delicate white ring encircling the neck as far as the 

 shoulder. In other parts it exhibits the colour from which it derives its name. 

 A very curious variety of a Duck, being a hybrid between the" Common Wild 

 Duck and the Pintail, is in Mr. Hugh Reid's collection. The speculum is some- 

 what similar in colour to that of the Mallard ; the neck long and thin, and 

 therefore more like that of the Pintail. The tail is short, and like that of the 

 Mallard, with the exception of two feathers, which are about half the length of 

 the tail of the Pintail. The head and neck are like those of the Mallard ; from 

 the latter the breast is divided by a semicircle of white feathers. 



Another variety of the Hare that I have seen, is of a general dusky ash-colour 

 rather lighter on the belly and neck. But the most beautiful variety I have ever 

 seen • is a bird of which, from the singularity of its appearance, I am unable to 

 discover the species. I at first thought it was a young Nightingale, but the tail 

 was too cuneiform. It was shot in a wood near Done aster, and was sent to be 

 preserved by Mr. Reid ; and admirably has he performed his task, though only 

 with his usual ability, which cannot be made too widely known. A more beautiful 

 bird I never saw. It is entirely of a pure] white, with a faint tinge here and 

 there of a delicate rose colour. This " forms her description — her description, 



