BRITISH BIRDS. 91 



Messrs. Sharpe and Dresser, in their ' Birds of Europe,' pt. vii. Oct. 

 1871, p. 9, mention a specimen with the black throat in the collection of 

 Mr. John Henry Gurney, jun., also of Mr. Bond. Latham, in his 

 ' Synopsis,' likewise says, in some the throat is black. 



Another example in my own cabinet, obtained about Dec. 1, 1874, is a 

 cock supposed to be assuming the plumage of the hen. The chin is as usual ; 

 but the grey cheeks, like those of the female, are conspicuous. 



As a contrast to the melanism in the throat of the Brambling and Quail, 

 I have given two illustrations of abnormal gular albinism in the Goldfinch 

 (^Fringilla carduelis), and one also in the Lark (^Alaiida arvensis). The latter 

 bird has been kept in my aviary for some five or six years ; it has never changed 

 in any way ; the white throat was exactly the same when it was caught ; 

 and a famous singer it is. 



On the 12th Oct., 1858, 1 was present when one of these Goldfinches with 

 a white throat was taken in a clap-net. The birdcatchers will tell you that 

 this sort always breeds well with a Canary ; but it is rare. This is probably 

 only fancy, though there is a general and widely spread belief in the idea 

 among the class. The gular albinism which occurs in this species is not 

 confined to England only ; for though Thom.pson does not notice it in his 

 ' Birds of Ireland,' Mr. Robert Gray, in the ' Birds of the West of Scotland,' 

 says, p. 185 : — "The Goldfinch seems to vary greatly in size. A specimen 

 from Ireland now before me is 4f inches in length ; another from Dumfries 

 is 5 inches. The first-named has a white throat ; both were killed in April : 

 the Irish bird looks as if it must have been, when in the flesh, only half the 

 size and weio-ht of the other." Of the two Goldfinches with the white throats 

 in the illustration, the best, the more marked case, was a specimen killed the 

 last week in October 1874, an old bird; the claws are quite white, and the 

 skin of the throat also : both are in my collection. These white specimens 

 are said to be more delicate in constitution than others, which is what one 

 would expect to find. The white appears to commence close up to the base 

 of the under mandible usually, but not always ; and there is great difference 



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