142 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



absolutely free from a trace of colour ; but the eyes normal. With regard to 

 the last-named birds, Mr. Blagg, of Cheadle, who breeds them, has furnished 

 the following information, which I give in his own words : — " In the white 

 Turtur risorius, the young have a pale bluish grey iris, .with a dark red 

 pupil ; the adults have dark red iris, with practically black pupil, as have 

 the ordinary T. risorius. The white T. risorius has a light pink beak in 

 place of the dark beak of the ordinary variety." It will be seen that the 

 albinism of this species does affect the colour of the eye in the young, but 

 not in the adult. I by no means deny that some albino birds belonging 

 to certain families have pink eyes, but certain other albinos are not so 

 distinguished. For instance, Mr. Blagg informs me that at a poultry and 

 bird show at Cheadle there was exhibited " a white Blackbird, a pure albino, 

 every feather white ; legs light flesh-colour ; beak and eyelids yellow ; eyes 

 (pupil and irides) pink as in white rabbits." Mr. Farn informs me that he 

 obtained last year a young white Coot, the eyes of which were pink. The 

 object I had in view in writing my previous note on this subject was to 

 controvert the statement that " the eyes are pink in all albinos." This, 

 I am quite convinced, is not the case. There are two well-kuown varieties 

 of the Common Duck, both white; one, the little white "call-duck," with 

 bright yellow beak and legs, which I do not consider an albino; and the 

 other, the "Aylesbury," which is perfectly achromatic — feathers, flesh, 

 beak, legs, and even eggs, all pure white — and, I take it, must be an 

 albino ; but the eyes are of the normal colour. Then amongst common 

 fowls there are pure white ones which are not albinos, the colour of the 

 legs showing that they are not so : but there are others entirely without 

 colour, which nevertheless have normal eyes. In the case of the Common 

 Pigeon there are also white birds which I do not regard as albinos, and 

 others that, in my opinion, as certainly are so. Take one variety as an 

 illustration : a " Blue Dragon " has rich reddish ochreous-coloured eyes ; 

 the pallid forms, such as the "Yellow" and "Silver," have much paler- 

 coloured eyes, but in the albino the eyes are the colour of a dark carbuncle. 

 In breeds where this dark eye is a defect, birds are bred which in the 

 nestling plumage show traces of colour and have normal eyes, and yet in a 

 moult or two become white. This fact of birds changing to white with age 

 is not uncommon. I have known of black pigeons and black poultry 

 becoming in a single moult pure white, so iar as the feathers were concerned ; 

 and in some black ducks I have observed the same change taking place, 

 but spread over several moults. This Mr. Verrall and I have both observed 

 at Lewes. Cygnus immutabilis is usually considered an albino of the 

 Common Swan, but its eyes are not pink. With regard to albino Mammals, 

 I should certainly not consider any species of the Rodentia to be an albino 

 unless it had pink eyes — at least I have never seen an exception. Indeed, 

 amongst the species of this order it is not unusual to find partially pied 



