NOTES AND QUEBIES. 221 



adoption. His grandfather was a magistrate in Amsterdam, and his father, 

 who emigrated to America at an early age, entered the Army, and held for 

 years the appointment of Lieutenant-Governor of New York. Col. de Peyster 

 entered the Army before he was seventeen years of age, and the best part of 

 his military career was spent in Canada. His wife was a Dumfries lady, 

 and probably for that reason the last years of his life were spent here. He 

 died at Dumfries Nov. 26th, 182*2, at the age of ninety-seven, having held 

 the Royal Commission for upwards of fourscore years. — Robert Service 

 (Maxwelltown, Dumfries). 



[A white Tiger is reported as having recently been shot in Assam. The 

 general colouration of the skin is white, the stripes not being very clearly 

 indicated. We read that the skin has been sent to Mr. Newing, a Calcutta 

 taxidermist, for preservation. — Ed.] 



AVES. 



White Eggs of Redbreast (Erithacus rubecula). — On the 15th of 

 April this year I found a Redbreast's nest in a bank, containing a pure 

 white egg, and at the time of writing there are five, and the bird is sitting. 

 The eggs are very round in shape, and greatly resemble a small King- 

 fisher's egg in appearance. I enclose one for inspection. — Wm. Delves, 

 Jun. (Maynard's Green, Horsham Road, Sussex). 



[Pure white eggs of the Robin are well known, though some collectors 

 have never met with them under natural conditions. This bird is now 

 very abundant on my part of the Surrey Hills, and Mr. Service informs 

 me of the same plentitude near Dumfries, where he has never previously 

 seen the nests so numerous. — Ed.] 



A Stray Visitor to Kent. — On Saturday morning (April 15th), whilst 

 eating my breakfast opposite a window facing my garden, I observed a tiny 

 Warbler doing me good service by clearing the aphides from my rose trees. 

 The sun was shining, and the bird was only about eight feet distant from 

 me, so that I could see it quite distinctly ; it was about the size of a Gold- 

 crest, but olive-green above, pale yellow beneath, and with a well-defined 

 eye-stripe. If this was not Phylloscopus superciliosus, I can give no name 

 to it, for it was far too small for a Chiffchaff or a Willow Warbler, both of 

 which I often see either in the spring or autumn in my garden. I watched 

 the bird carefully for three or four minutes before it flew away. — A. G. 

 Butler (Beckenham Road, Beckenham, Kent). 



The Grasshopper Warbler in Breconshire.— As might be expected 

 from the nature of the country, the Grasshopper Warbler (Sylvia locustella) 

 is not uncommon iu Breconshire. We have here most of the conditions in 

 which this little summer migrant delights, such as rushy meadows with 



