1903.] ON COLOUR-VAEIATION IN THE GOLDFINCH AND RUFF. 3 



Ryclak River, north-east of the Buxa Oantomnent, at an elevation 

 of 5000 feet. He made the following remarks upon the exhibit 

 and on other variations in Deer : — 



" The specimen is remarkable as exhibiting a pair of antlers, 

 springing from the bony pedicels on their outer sides, some- 

 what below the ordinary antlers, which are normal in form. 

 Although not alike on the two sides, these little supernumerary 

 antlers have not, except for this, an unnatural a,ppearance ; and as 

 the local shikaries had informed my friend that in a part of 

 Bhutan such a variation was not imcommon, it may be that we 

 may ultimately see a four-horned race of the Barking- Deer. 



" While on the subject of variation in Deer, I may pei-haps be 

 permitted to mention two curious colour-abnormalities in these 

 animals, which have come vmder my notice in India. In the 

 above-mentioned Kakur I have seen two melanic specimens, both 

 living females, one of which, to my knowledge, came from the 

 Himalayas, and, I believe, the other also. Both were of a peculiar 

 iron-black colour, i. e. black of a greyish shade, like that of cast- 

 iron ; this grey shade pertaining to the individual hairs, for there 

 was no admixture of white ones. Also, in the Sambhar {Gervits 

 tmicolor) I have seen two remarkable varieties in quite young 

 specimens. One of these was a very rufous specimen, as red as a 

 Barking- Deer ; while the other, which I saw the day after its 

 birth, was spotted with white along the sides of the back, like the 

 adult Barasingha {Cervus duvauceli) in its summer coat. Young 

 Sambhar are commonly said to be more rufous than adults, 

 though I have not noticed this in those I have seen ; and Mr. W. 

 Rutledge, in whose possession I saw the above rufous specimen, 

 in spite of his long experience as a dealer, was so surprised at 

 this one that he was doubtful of the species. As to the spotted 

 fawn, there is no doubt of its rarity as a variation ; I have never 

 seen or heard of a similar specimen, the usual uniformity of 

 the young pelage being a remarkable specific character of the 

 Sambhar." 



Mr. Frank Finn also exhibited a living specimen of the Gold- 

 finch {Carduelis carduelis) showing a rare variation, and a skin of 

 the RufF {Pavoncella pugnax) showing albinism, and made the 

 following remarks upon them : — 



" The living Goldfinch now exhibited is a male of the large 

 Eastern race sold as ' Siberian Goldfinches ' by bird-dealers, and is 

 I'emarkable in that it shows an extremely rare variation in colour. 

 Behind the black band on the head there is on each side a small 

 patch of glossy red feathers, similar to those of the face. I have 

 nevei- before seen such a variation either in this species or in the 

 Himalayan Goldfinch, and the dealer from whom I procured it, 

 Mr. A. Zache, of Great Portland Street, told me he had only seen 

 one other, also a male. Mr. H. Blake- Knox, however, in a valuable 

 paper on ' Abnormal Plumages in the Goldfinch ' (Zoologist, 



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