190 BRITISH BIRDS. 



being a description : Forehead, white ; crown, French grey, 

 slightly barred with darker grey and tinged w^ith sulphur - 

 yellow ; cheeks and upper -sides of neck pale j^ellow, save 

 for a patch of grey behind the eyes ; mantle, back, and rump 

 pale grey tinged with sulphur-yellow ; upi)er tail-coverts 

 very pale grey ; tail grey, faintly barred with darker ; wing- 

 coverts grey (lesser rather darker) edged with white ; primaries 

 and secondaries very pale grey, edged with white ; throat white, 

 tinged with yellow ; pectoral band grey ; lower-breast and 

 abdomen pure white ; flanks very pale grey ; beak, legs and 

 claws black ; culmen .5 in. ; wing 3.3 in. ; tail 3.0 in. ; tarsus 

 1.0 in. In regarding this bird as an albinistic variety of 

 31. lugubris, I have been guided by the fact that, of the 

 European Wagtails of approximately the same length, it 

 comes nearest to the Pied Wagtail in the measurements of the 

 culmen, wing, tail and tarsus (c/. Dresser's Birds of Europe). 

 Mr. T. Ground, to whose kindness in aiding me in the identi- 

 fication I am much indebted, lent me an adult male in breeding 

 plumage from his collection for comparison, and the dimensions 

 of this specimen were : Culmen .55 in., wing 3.4 in., tail 2.7 in., 

 tarsus .9 in., which agree very closel}^ with those of the variety. 

 In addition to the evidence afforded by measurement, it will 

 be seen that the bird closety resembles the Pied Wagtail in 

 winter plumage, with the replacement of the black and grey 

 coloration by paler shades of grey. 



The yellow wash on the cheeks, \A'hich corresponds precisely 

 with the white patch in M. lugubris, msiy be due to the specimen 

 being immature (an assumption which is supported by the 

 barring on the crown and tail, and by the sexual organs not 

 being fully developed), but that on the crown, back, and 

 throat seems to be undoubtedly due to xanthocroism — a 

 variation which, in conjunction with albinism, must be most 

 unusual. A. Geoffrey Leigh. 



[It might equally well be a specimen of a White Wagtail. — 

 H.F.W.] 



FOUR HOUSE-MARTINS FEEDING YOUNG 



IN ONE NEST. 



With reference id the note on page 136 of the October number 

 of British Birds, on the breeding of the House-Martin 

 {Chelidon urhica), I may record that a pair of these birds 

 reared two broods this year from one nest under the eaves 

 of nw house. I noticed the parent birds feeding this second 

 brood on September 17th. On October 1st and 2nd they 

 were still carrying food, but were assisted by t\\o other House- 



