NOTES AND QUEBIES. 349 



have been placed on record in ' The Zoologist ' and other journals, 

 there does not appear to be an instance of a bird, by nature perma- 

 nently white, turning brown. Ptarmigan have their well-known 

 seasonal change, it is true, but that is not a case in point. No 

 species of which the adult plumage is white, or nearly so — such as 

 a Gannet, a Swan, a Stork, a Snowy Owl, or a Gull — has ever been 

 known to assume a brown colour. I think I am right in supposing 

 that such a lusus natures as this is unknown to ornithologists in any 

 country. Brown and black birds become white not very infre- 

 quently, of which the Thrush and Blackbird are common examples, 

 but that is in accordance with the ordinary law of albinism, to which 

 every species is liable, and is easily explained by an absence of 

 pigment in the feathers. Melanism, on the other hand, is produced 

 by a superabundance of it, and is always much rarer than albinism. 

 — J. H. GuENEY (Keswick Hall, Norwich). 



Great Black-backed Gull breeding on an Inland Lake. — A young 

 friend of mine, Mr. H. Scroope, Jun., of Ballina, when visiting that 

 fine sheet of water in North Mayo — Lough Corm — discovered a pair 

 of these Gulls having a nest on a grassy island frequented by hun- 

 dreds of Black-headed Gulls. The destruction of eggs by these great 

 Gulls was enormous, for on a corner of the island where the Gulls 

 carried the eggs to eat, he says he saw as many egg-shells of the 

 Black-headed Gulls as would have filled a basket. However, in 

 order to prove the identity of the Gulls, he brought away their three 

 eggs, the size of which beyond all doubt proved their species. He 

 was careful in this, because a pair of Lesser Black-backed Gulls 

 frequented the lake for some years, and their young, fledged, were 

 seen accompanying their parents. This is the first instance that I 

 have known of this large Gull breeding on an inland fresh-water 

 lake in Ireland, which is situated at least nine or ten miles from the 

 sea, and is twelve or fourteen miles from Downpatrick Head, the 

 nearest breeding haunt of the Great Black-backed Gull on this coast. 

 — BoBERT Warren (Ardnaree, Monkstown, Co. Cork). 



Most important provisions affecting animals are contained in 

 the Protection of Animals Act (introduced by Mr. G. Greenwood, 

 M.P.), which is about to receive the Eoyal Assent. The maximum 

 punishment for cruelty has been increased from three to six months, 

 and a fine of £25, while the period in which proceedings can be taken 

 has been increased to two months. Power is given to a private 



