GOLDFINCH. 



125 



— the brown patch on the side of the breast being also re- 

 placed by white. But specimens shewing almost every stage 

 of this irregularity may be procured, from those which 

 possess only a white "speck" on the chin to those which 

 exhibit its full extent as just described. In the more ex- 

 treme examples the bill and claws are also white — features 

 often seen in albinescent or albino birds, and indicating the 

 real nature of the present abnormality, which is common to 

 both sexes and to all ages, and seems to be hereditary, for a 

 whole family may be caught the young of which exhibit in a 

 greater or less degree the distinguishing marks of one or 

 both of their Cheverel parents.* 



* The Editor is not aware of any portrait of a true Cheverel having been given, 

 but ornithologists are indebted to Mr. Rowley for figuring two that are sufficiently 

 perfect to shew the appearance of the variety (Orn. Misc. p. 91, figs. 1, 3). 

 This gentleman has also favoured the Editor with a letter from Mr. A. Crittenden 

 of Brighton, accompanying a coloured sketch of a still rarer and more beautiful 

 variety, in which a crescentic patch of red appears behind the black band mi the 

 side of the neck, and it is said that the ear-coverts and breast were tinged with 

 yellow. Those who are curious in the matter of varieties of the Goldfinch will 

 do well to consult Mr. Hlake-Knox's remarks (Zool. s.s. pp. 2050-2052). 



