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CASUAL NOTES ON FLEAS. 



I!y the HON. CHARLES ROTHSCHILD. 



I HAVE to record a fine tnale specimen of Pulex kerguelciiais Tascbb., taken from 

 an example of the parrakeet Cyanorhanipkiis ^ln^color (Yig.), from Anti))odes 

 Island. The species was originally described by Dr. Taschenberg (Die Flohe. \\ ()7, 

 PI. ii., fig. 12) as having been found by .Mr. Katon upon a petrel, Pelecn nohles 

 uriiiatrix (Gmel.), on Kerguelen Island. Notwithstanding the immense distance 

 separating these two islands, this additional record of P. kergudensis, when analysed, 

 is not strange, for the petrel is indigenous to most of the islands in or near the 

 Antarctic Ocean, and the parrakeet lives in holes in the ground in the same way 

 as the petrel, and probably entered a hole previously tenanted by the petrel. 



I take this opportunity of recording a female specimen of Typfdopsi/Ua pentactenus 

 (KoL), taken from a Pipistrelle, Vespenigo pipistrellus (Schreb.), caught at Harrow 

 in October 1892. As far as I can ascertain, this is the first record (if this species for 

 Great liritain, though it is well known on the Continent. 



ON SOME ABERRATIONS OF SOREX VULGABIS Linn. AND 

 ,S'. PYGMAEUS Pall. IN THE TRING MUSEUM. 



By the HON. CHARLES ROTHSCHILD. 



HAVING lately procured for the Tring ^Museum a \ery aberrant specimen of 

 a shrew, I think it might be interesting to record all the abnormal specimens 

 of these mammals in mv brother's collection. 



Sorex vulgaris Linn. — Of this species, in addition to typical specimens, there 

 arc iu the ^Museum four aberrant examples. One of these has a greyish white patch 

 behind the left ear, about half an inch broad ; in other respects it exhibits no 

 peculiarities. Two others, both caught near Brighton, are pure white all over, 

 and present every character of a true albiuo. But by far the most interesting 

 specimen is one caught near Tring. which has a broad white band completely 

 encircling it, very similar, so I should tliiid'C, to a specimen described iu Bell's British 

 Quadrupeds. 



Sorex pygmaeus Pall. — Of this much rarer species the Mu.seum possesses two 

 specimius — om- normal e.\ample found dead at Tring, and one remarkable aberration 

 recently received by me from County Down, Ireland. This specimen is white, with 

 the snout and tail of the usual colour, of which there is also a fair-sized patch near 

 the root of the tail ; on the middle of the back there are a considerable number of 

 brown hairs mixed with tlie white ones. 



