A NATURALIST'S JOURNAL IN HOLLAND AND BELGIUM. 333 



— At a furniture dealer's, a Kite (Milvus ictinas), Goshawk (Astur 

 palumbarius) , Grey Shrike, Song Thrush, Fieldfare, and Coot; 

 at a cafe, two Little Owls (Athene noctua) ; at the chemist's, a 

 Grey Shrike and a Magpie. There may be bought in La Roche 

 heads of the Red Deer and Roe Deer ; of the latter, we got a 

 nice head with antlers measuring ten inches and a quarter along 

 the outside of the curve. Also you can get local skins of the 

 Fox (with dark and thick fur, and remarkably large brushes) and 

 Wild Cat. The facts of the Black Redstart being found here in 

 some numbers in mid-October, and that it was singing at that 

 season, were very interesting. I am inclined to think that these 

 individuals intended to pass the winter in that little sheltered 

 valley, where they had the advantage of houses and plenty of 

 middens, for almost, if not quite, all the summer visitors among 

 the migratory birds had moved southward by that date. The 

 facts suggested interesting speculations. For instance, the 

 questions whether the Black Redstart habitually sings in its 

 winter quarters ; and, if so, does R. phoenicura sing also ? I have 

 only seen two or three Black Redstarts in their southern winter 

 quarters south of the Mediterranean, but they were not singing. 

 Mr. Howard Saunders kindly tells me that in Spain he has heard 

 the Black Redstart singing early in November, but that he has 

 never been in Spain in October. If the Black Redstart sings 

 habitually in autumn and winter, the fact is additional evidence 

 of the relationship between this bird and the Robin, and I may add 

 that I have occasionally heard a shrill strain from a Robin which 

 reminded me strongly of the song of the Black Redstart. With 

 regard to the white eggs of the Black Redstart, it may be worth 

 recording that I once found a white Robin's egg, the only egg in 

 the nest. Of course this was only an abnormal variety (the shape 

 was normal), but it tends to show the direction abnormal variation 

 may take in this group of birds, and other white Robins' eggs 

 have been found. In the case of the plumage of birds, it is often 

 quite possible to name the colour and character which variation 

 will assume in an abnormal variety of a particular species of 

 bird. The present point is, however, not worth much, for a 

 colourless egg may occur to any bird. The connection between 

 the olive-brown Nightingale's egg and the blue-green Redstart's 

 egg is evidently close, for Partridges sometimes lay abnormal 

 blue eggs ; I had one some years ago, and I believe blue varieties 

 of Pheasants' eggs also occur. 



