6 
ALBINO BIRDS IN CUMBERLAND IN 1932. 
T. F. MARRINER. 
Albinism has never been so common among our birds as in 
this year. 
Yellow Hammer. — A pure albino recorded from the 
Eden Valley in February, and another in March near 
Plumpton village. These were both noted by reliable 
authorities. A third was seen in April, but was quite possibly 
one of those already recorded. 
House-Sparrow. — Two on a farm near Carlisle in April. 
Each year, for about five years past, albinos have been bred 
on this farm ; a gentleman in Carlisle has in his possession 
one of the birds bred there in 1931. It is a beautiful specimen,, 
soon took to the cage life, and has become a great pet. The 
farmer upon whose property the birds nest is very proud of 
the presence of the white sparrows, and no one is allowed to 
interfere with them. 
Chaffinch. — I had under observation the nest of a 
chaffinch, built just inside the gate of a nursery garden near 
Carlisle. One of the five young, when feathered, proved to 
be an albino. I missed the date when the young actually 
left the nest, but saw them being fed by the parent birds, 
on the trees. 
The albino remained in the neighbourhood for some time,, 
then gradually began to get further and further southward 
along the road. It proved to be a cock bird. It eventually 
found its way to the riverside and for a time created much 
interest by its appearance in the public park at Carlisle.. 
Then it disappeared, but a white chaffinch was seen about 
three weeks later on the roadside a few miles south of Carlisle.. 
I have no doubt it was the same bird. 
In August a white chaffinch was seen near Penrith, a 
cock bird, and late in September a similar record came from 
Shap. The bird was probably migrating south, as some of 
our residents are known to do, for the winter. It will be 
interesting to note whether it returns north in the spring, 
if it should survive the winter and other dangers to which 
its rarity will surely subject it. 
Blackbird. — Though no all-white specimens have been 
recorded during the year, there have been several instances 
of piebald varieties, Out of a nest of five in the hedge of a. 
Carlisle garden four were more or less white, and a nicely 
marked specimen, shot accidentally near Brampton, is now 
in the Hancock Museum, Newcastle. 
Starling, — Though not, strictly speaking, a Cumberland 
record, a beautiful albino form was taken just over the border 
in June. It is at present in the possession of a Dumfries- 
fancier. 
The Naturalist 
