256 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Hybrids amongst Birds.— I confess I am not a great believer in 

 Blackbird-aud-Thrush hybrids. Professor Newton (whose ' Yarrell ' I 

 have not at hand) mentions one such instance which is authentic, I think , 

 but I believe that in many cases partial melanisms of the Thrush have 

 been thought to be hybrids. I have an instance of a Thrush which turned 

 nearly black in confinement, its owner thinking that in his absence it had 

 been changed; but with proper food it revolted to its normal colour. Other 

 incipient melanisms of the same kind are frequently due to hemp-seed. In 

 the British Museum is a supposed Blackbird-and- Thrush hybrid, with the 

 light parts well defined. Mr. Christy has very likely seen it: it is in the 

 British bird-room, and was, I think, presented by Mr. A. D. Bartlett, 

 having probably been obtained in the neighbourhood of Loudon. I have 

 Been a Blackbird, killed at Reigate, with large patches of brown upon it, 



very singularly marked, yet the brow t the mottled brown of a Thrush. 



A cock Blackbird will occasionally retain large patches of the brown 

 plumage of immaturity to the spring following its birth, when it would be 

 about a year old, as some young Rooks retain their nasal bristles a twelve- 

 month or more. A Blackbird in this state might at first sight be supposed 

 to he a hybrid. If your correspondent were to refer to the catalogues of 

 the Crystal Palace bird shows, 1 think he would Bud one or two supposed 

 hybrids. In seeking lor instances of hybridism we must remember that 

 hybrids may SOm< times take after one or other of their parents, as in the 

 Grey and Carrion (row. Hybrids between the Greenfinch and Linnet 

 have repeatedly occurred, differing very much in plumage; yet probably 

 for every one which has been recognised, several, from their resemblance 

 to one or other of their parents, have escaped notice. Many continental 

 collections, in countries where the cKasae aux grives is largely carried on, as 

 ai Berlin, Turin, and Mars, illes, have the most curious varieties of the 

 Thrush tribe, including possibly some hybrids. The subject is interesting, 

 owing to the dissimilarity of the two birds, though indeed they arc not 

 more dissimilar than the Greenfinch and Linnet, or than the Pochard and 

 Nyroca, which have several times been known to cross in a wild state; and 

 oth.r examples might be cited among the game-birds. Probably among 

 closely-allied species there are far more hybrids than we are aware of. My 

 father has a live Goose which pretty conclusively shows that the Bean 

 Goose will, in a wild state, occasionally cross with the While- fronted Goose, 

 and, if this is the case, how much more likely that it should cross with the 

 still more nearly-allied Pinkfooted. Many Redpolls occur in Norfolk and 

 elsewhere, which are intermediate hi tween the common Redpoll and the 

 Mealy ; and it is practically impossible to say which they are. The like 

 has been observed among the Siberian Goldfinches, but the difficulty melts 

 away if we allow that these intermediate birds are hybrids. — J. H. GuBKET, 

 Jun. 1 47, Eversfield Place, St. Leonards). 



