NOTES AND QUERIES. 



381 



('Birds of Europe,' iii. p. 107), and by Gadow (Cat. B. Brit. 

 Mus., viii., p. 51). These gentlemen regard '' Parus fruticeti, 

 Wallengr., Naumannia, 1854, p. 141," as a synonym of P. hore- 

 alis, while in reality Wallengreen proposed the new name for 

 " P. palustris, Auctorum," regarding, as he did, P.borealis, Selys, 

 as a synonym of P. palustris, Linn. We hold that Linnseus's 

 diagnosis is equally applicable to both forms, and that the name, 

 therefore, is to be applied to that one, to which it was first 

 restricted by Selys-Longchamps. P. friiticeti, Wallengr., there- 

 fore, is a synonym of what we consider P. palustris vera. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



MAMMALIA. 



Hornless Stags.— Hornless stags have long been known to the shooter 

 of large game in Germany by the name of " Flatheads," or "Monks" 

 {Plattkopfe Oder Monche). In these animals the so-called " rosette " on 

 the skull, which forms the proper base of the horns, appears remarkably 

 deformed, and is entirely clothed by a prolongation of the hairy skin of 

 the forehead. The cause of this phenomenon in many districts has been 

 often attributed to interbreeding for many years, as well as to neglect in 

 regenerating the blood through natural selection with deer from other 

 districts. But since Deer and Roe which are kept in confinement and 

 fed liberally with oats, grain, dry pease, maize, acorns, beechmast, and 

 chestnuts, set up horns and antlers of extraordinary dimensions, one 

 naturally comes to the conclusion that it must be the absence of this and 

 similar food which prevents or retards the formation of horns. Indeed it 

 is in the extensive forests ie. g. the Forest of Goerde) consisting exclusively 

 of pine and fir, that the so-called " Flatheads " are principally found, and, 

 as regards food, are chiefly restricted to heather during the winter, other 

 food being exceptional. Besides the more or less exceptional " Flatheads," 

 there are other deer found there with only one "rosette" deformed, the 

 other very likely supporting a well-developed antler, carrying from ten 

 to twelve points. [No such antlers are ever seen now on British Red- 

 deer.— Ed.] Others again may have insignificant smooth horns of a dull 

 colour, which in some specimens take peculiar curves or are distorted in 

 the shape of a spiral. Those deer which, instead of horns, are provided 

 merely with a strong and straight antler on one side only, were formerly 

 known as " murderers," being dangerous adversaries to other deer during 



