Birds. 8949 
Dun Variety of Robin.—I had sent me, last week, the most perfectly dun-coloured 
robin I ever saw, shot near Lynn. Its entire plumage is of an uniform dun-colour, 
much lighter in its shades than I ever saw a specimen presenting before. The beak 
and legs are much lighter than in the ordinary examples ; the eyes were light hazel. 
It has been my fortunate lot to have examined two or three varieties of this familiar 
species, and I have in every case particularly observed the tail and plumage of these 
to present a singular chafed and rubbed appearance, as though their oddity of garb 
had caused them to become subjected to severe battles—in fact, this was the case of 
one recorded by myself in a former volume of the ‘ Zoologist..—S. P. Saville, Dover 
House, Cambridge, January 5, 1864. 
Scarcity of Robins during Winter: Does the Female Miyrate ?—That there is a 
scarcity of robins in the winter must be apparent to all observers of nature resident in 
the country ; moreover, it is a subject of great interest to ornithologists, although I 
have seen no plausible theory advanced to account for it. Naval officers and passen- 
gers on board ships frequently record the appearance of migrants en route to and from 
Britain, and, among other birds, nearly invariably mention the robin: this always 
appeared strange to me, as, when in the country, never a day, either in winter or 
summer, elapses without my seeing one or more of these familiar little birds. At last 
a thought struck me that ‘there may be a sexual migration, and, with this supposition 
in view, I commenced, about a month prior to Christmas, to make a slaughter of robins, 
solely for the purpose of dissection ; and, although I am ashamed to say how many I 
killed, I can firmly assert that the whole of them proved, on dissection, to be males. 
I have therefore come to the, I think, very rational conclusion, that the female robin 
migrates, and that nearly to a bird. Again, the pugnacity of the robin towards its 
own species in winter would naturally lead one to suppose that the birds were males, 
or, at any rate, of the same sex; for it is a well-known fact, that animals of the higher 
orders (man alone, I am sorry to say, excepted) seldom, if ever, quarrel with the oppo- 
site sex of their own species. In advancing the above theory I do not wish to be 
considered dogmatical, but I do wish to call the attention of competeut ornithologists 
to this very interesting subject, for I feel confident that practical observations will be 
fully repaid.— Henry Reeks ; Manor House, Thruxton, February 3, 1864. 
Note of the occurrence of a pure Albino Hedgesparrow.—Mt. H. French, solicitor 
of this town, while out enjoying the day partridge-shooting last September, was not 
a little pleased in adding to his bag a pure white hedgesparrow, vot a single feather of 
its wonted hue being visible; the feet and beak being of a lightish dirty yellow, the 
eyes of a most complete pink. A white variety of this species is recorded as having 
been in the collection of the late Dr. Thackery, Provost of King’s College, but never- 
theless the pure albino is of very uncommon occurrence.—S. P. Saville; Dover 
House, Cumbridge, January 5, 1864. 
Note on the Lesser Whitethroat’s Nest—For the last four years a pair of lesser 
whitethroats have regularly built, in the tall hedge of our garden at Willesden Green, 
at the height of nearly six feet from the ground. It is the lesser whitethroat’s usual 
habit about here to place its nest higher than most of its congeners, excepting some- 
times the blackcap. The lesser whitethroat is one of the earliest to arrive of our 
summer warblers, and usually bas its nest completed early in May: last year we found 
an egg on the 28th April. The common whitethroat, on the contrary, seldom builds 
till the end of May or June.—C. B. Wharton ; Willesden Green. 
