NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 23 



Sandpipers, and as these species are shot in such immense num- 

 bers during the migrations is it not a little strange that we do 

 not hear of more examples, as such curiosities are always pre- 

 served, even by the market gunner. P. minor and G. Wilsoni 

 have been shot in white plumage, and thus our four game-birds 

 have been added to the list. 



P. Carolina, in albinistic plumage is among the collection in 

 the Boston Museum. Examples of others of this family I have 

 not noted. I have seen nine species representing albinism among 

 the Anatida. A partial want of coloration in B. bernicla is an 

 interesting specimen ; A. boschas, Q. discors, II. glacialis, F. affin- 

 is and F. vallisneria, bore more traces of albinism than of their 

 normal plumage, while specimens of B. clangula, A. albeola, and 

 O.fusca, were pure white, this latter presenting almost as great 

 a contrast as in the case of the Crow. The Procellariidce are 

 represented by one species, F. giganteus, which is in the collec- 

 tion of the Philadelphia Academy. 



One of the finest and most attractive examples is among the 

 Colymbida, a snow-white specimen of C. septentrionalis, which was 

 shot in Salem Harbor, Mass., and is now in my possession. A 

 similar curiosity is at the Smithsonian Institution. An albino 

 L. troile is in the Museum collection at Toronto, Canada. U. 

 grytte and M. alle have also been recorded. 



Many questions would naturally arise as to the cause of this 

 abnormal state in which so many of our birds are found, though 

 I believe it is generally understood to be a lack of the coloring 

 matter deposited in the cells of the feathers. It is certainly not 

 influenced by any climatic changes or geographical distribution, 

 as specimens are taken throughout the country, and not more or 

 less abundant in any locality ; nor is it caused by old age, for 

 we have heard of broods of j r oung Quail in albinistic state ac- 

 companied by white parents ; and another interesting example, 

 is that of a young Robin, milk-white, still unable to leave the 

 nest. This specimen was taken at Saybrook, Conn., by Mr. 

 H. A. Purdie, who informs me that the parent birds were in 

 normal dress. 



Whether any specimens hatched in this stage have been de- 

 tected to attain any of their regular plumage after the moult, I 

 am unable to say, though should think it very doubtful. I have 

 heard an instance of a white Robin building its nest for several 

 successive years on the same spot in an old wood-shed. This 



