4692 Tue ZooLocist—NovEMBER, 1875. 
of this species entirely white has never fallen under my own observa- 
tion, but three or four more or less white-feathered specimens have passed 
through my hands; perhaps the most remarkable is one I obtained a season 
or two ago, in which the head, breast, neck and shoulders were pure un- 
sullied white, and the rest of the bird was of the usual jet-black. Another 
specimen I have has a white ring round its neck; the throat, sides of the 
head and upper part of the breast are also white; but all the white portions 
are more or less dappled with black feathers: this specimen also has a few 
pale feathers in one of the wing-coverts. In all the specimens I have seen 
or handled they seemed to “show the white feather” in the vicinity of the 
head more frequently than upon any other part of the body. Is such the 
experience of others? On the 28rd of June last I had a thrush sent me: 
it was about half-grown, and had been kept in a cage from a nestling to the 
time of its death. The person who sent it informed me that the nest in 
which it was hatched contained four birds, two of which were similar to the 
one sent. Both of the pale-coloured birds were taken at the proper time; 
one soon died, but the other survived several weeks, and the old birds— 
neither of which differed in colour from the usual type—used to feed it 
through the wires of the cage. From the immature condition of its plumage 
it looks somewhat rough and ragged, and, from being kept in confinement, 
its tail and under parts are much soiled, but the whole bird is of an uniform 
white colour, tinged very slightly with yellow upon the wings; the beak 
and legs were also dingy white. ‘The eyes, which appeared to be opaque 
and sightless, were of a pale pink hue, which I believe is often the case 
with these white varieties, and indeed we know it is so in the case of 
rabbits, &c. Whilst on the question of white varieties, I may state that for 
the past two years a cock sparrow has frequented this neighbourhood, of 
which the wings—and especially the larger quill-feathers—are pure white, 
which makes the bird a very conspicuous object, especially when flying.— 
G. B. Corbin. 
Fieldfares versus Missel Thrushes and Starlings,—The editorial doubt 
expressed with regard to the occurrence of the fieldfare in this country 
so early as July (Zool. 8. S. 4628), is judicious and reasonable. During 
the latter part of June and the whole of July I was frequently observing 
missel thrushes in flocks, especially in a gentleman’s park, on one side of 
which some high thick fir trees stand, and I believe the missel thrushes 
took advantage of this retreat for roosting, as in the evening numbers of 
them would leave the trees if a stone was thrown into them. Again, 
I noticed that young starlings were unusually common this season, — 
appearing in almost ineredible flocks about the date named, keeping up a 
constant twitter in the low damp meadows, where they fed and quarrelled 
to their heart’s content, and at night roosted in the reed-beds of the river 
close by. I have not much doubt it was one of those species, which, at a 
