22 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
prisoners. They bathe frequently, almost immoderately. They 
take nearly. any sort of food; for instance, the flour of Indian corn 
mixed with grated cheese, paste, boiled rice, minced polenta, little 
bits of raw meat, and other things. In spite of their facility in 
adapting themselves to a state of captivity, it is not to be assumed 
that all Rose-coloured Starlings can support it without ill conse- 
quences or for long. Within two months a great mortality was 
noticed among them, amounting to about eighty per cent. The 
young were subject to a disease which swelled their toes, and that 
was almost always followed in a short time by death. 
#* * * * * 
In conclusion, I may remark that the appearance of Pastor 
roseus in such thousands, and its nidification with us to such an 
extent, ought to be regarded as a real benefit to the country round 
Villafranca, where the locusts did so much damage, as well as a 
piece of good luck to the clever speculators ; and lastly, in what 
concerns us most, it is a new and important fact in the history of 
Italian Birds. 
—-— yy —— 
OCCASIONAL NOTES. 
OraNGcE Variety oF THE Morr.—A pale orange variety of the common 
Mole was caught, a few weeks since, at Halton, near Tring, by Billington, 
the village mole-catcher and birdstuffer, and brought to me.—H. Harpur 
Crewe (The Rectory, Drayton-Beauchamp, Tring). 
[See page 225, where a somewhat similar variety of the Mole is recorded 
by Mr. Prior to have been obtained near Bedford.—Eb. | 
Note on THE Lonc-EARED Bar.—In the neighbourhood of Wilsden the 
Long-eared Bat, Plecotus auritus, was extremely abundant in 1876, and 
this was all the more noticeable from the fact of its comparative scarcity in 
previous years, its place hitherto having been occupied by the Common 
Pipistrelle—E. P. P. Burrerrrecp (Wilsden). 
Wapine Birps iy. Avrumn ar Hory Istanp.—On the 16th August 
I shot a Wood Sandpiper, a young bird of the year, which rose at a 
distance and settled again, and which I thought at first was a Green 
Sandpiper. It made a twittering noise, something resembling the note of 
the Common Sandpiper, and I shot it as it rose the second time from some 
longish grass and weeds. Green Sandpipers were not uncommon for a few 
