NOTES AND QUERIES. 191 



He also told me that these large woods (I think they are now mostly felled) 

 used to be favourite nesting places for Kites and Buzzards, and he used to 

 take their eggs there. The late Mr. Wolley, in his • Ootheca Wollevana,' 

 mentions having obtained Kites' eggs from Lincolnshire, from Mr. G. 

 Adrian. These would doubtless be some of the eggs to which Mr. Adrian 

 referred. — G. E. Lodge (5, Verulam Buildings, Gray's Inn). 



BIRDS. 



Albinism in Birds and Mammals.— I have been much interested in 

 the discussion on albinism commenced in ' The Zoologist ' last year by 

 Mr. Jenner Weir, but confess I am rather puzzled by its present position. 

 In your last number (p. 142) Mr. Weir says the object of his former note 

 in ' The Zoologist' was to controvert the statement that " the eyes are pink 

 in all albinos," whereas it left on my mind the impression that it was written 

 to show that "no albino birds have pink eyes." This was the impression 

 I derived from his letter to ' The Field,' and also from his communication on 

 the same subject to 'Nature Notes'; but possibly T may have missed his 

 point. Anyhow, it is well known that there are white animals with pink 

 eyes, and white animals without pink eyes ; and coloured animals with and 

 without pink eyes. But whether an animal is an albino or not, depends 

 entirely on the definition of albinism. If a writer considers a white bird 

 with normally coloured irides to be an albino, surely his first step is to tell 

 us what he understands by " albinism." It is useless to reopen a discussion 

 as to whether certain examples fall within a certain class, if different views 

 are held as to what constitutes that class. - A. Holte Macpherson 

 (51, Gloucester Place, Hyde Park, W.). 



Albinos and White Varieties. — Mr. Jenner Weir says that I appear 

 to " admit the probability of some albinos having other than pink irides by 

 using the words 'almost always.'" Most certainly I was aware that they 

 have. The irides of albinos are sometimes almost colourless and sometimes 

 light blue. This was the reason I worded my note in that way. It is 

 not a case of admitting the probability. It was solely Mr. Jenner Weir's 

 previous statement that he had " never seen a single instance of an albino 

 bird having pink eyes" (Zool. 1891, p. 358), which evoked my note on this 

 subject. — 0. V. Aplin (Bloxham, Banbury, Oxon). 



Notes on Donegal Birds. — I have to thank Mr. Ussher for calling 

 my attention to the fact that the following species have been omitted from 

 my list of the birds found in Donegal, namely, Goldfinch, Twite, Linnet, and 

 Shoveller. For the omission of the first three I must plead carelessness, 

 for they are all familiar species in this county. The Goldfinch is the least 

 common ; I have seen it about Belleek, Killybegs, and Fintra, on the west 

 side of the county, and at Rathmullan, on the east side, always in small 



