NATURE NOTES. 
8 
The Wren may be said to sing, as you say, in “ tirades.” 
“Juggins ” sounds like a local name of the nightingale. 
The lower notes of the Blackbird are deeper than any notes in the songs of the 
singing birds which you mention. Perhaps the deepest sound of all is the bark 
of the heron (Ardea cinerea). 
The Shrike has many local names, e.g.. Butcher-bird, Flusher, Murdering-pie, 
Cheeter, Jack Baker, Whiskey John, Mine Killer. A. PI. M. 
“ Gravyes.” — May I repeat a question not yet answered, which was kindly 
inserted in Nature Notes some months ago, and ask if any of the numerous 
new readers of Nature Notes can tell me what bird is meant by “ Gravyes,” 
spoken of in Nicholson and Burns’ History of Cumberland and Westmoreland as 
a bird “ rather larger than a duck, and breeding on Windermere ” ? The book was 
published about the close of last century, but “ the oldest inhabitant ” here can 
tell me nothing about the bird. A. RawSON. 
Windermere. 
[“ Gravyes ” must surely mean Goosanders : these birds are now called 
“Gravel Ducks” in Cumberland (see Birds of Cumberland, by Rev. PI. A. Mac- 
pherson, p. 196). They are for the most part winter visitors to our estuaries. 
Perhaps the word is connected with O. Fr. greve — a sandy shore. A. H. M.] 
The Eyes of Albino Birds.— In the January number of Nature Notes 
Mr. Belt enquires as to the colour of the eyes of Albino birds. In cases of true 
albinism the eyes are pink or bluish grey, assuming a pink tinge in certain lights. 
But birds are more otten pure white with eyes of the ordinary colour. Many 
cases of this partial albinism or “ leucotism ” occur among young birds. It seems, 
however, to be frequently only a temporary state, the birds assuming normal 
plumage at their first moult. A. IP. M. 
Mr. J. Jenner Weir, F.L.S., writes : — It is an error to suppose that albino 
birds have pink eyes. I have never seen a single instance of such a casein birds, 
nor is it by any means common in mammalia. For instance, white cats have 
never pink eyes ; their eyes are either blue or yellow, and not unfrequently the 
eyes are odd, one yellow and one blue. Neither do white dogs have pink eyes ; 
the colour is invariably pink in Albino rodents. White mice, rats and rabbits are 
familiar illustrations ; white pigeons have often, but not always, what is known as 
“ bull eyes,” the colour of a very dark carbuncle. I have seen white linnets, 
goldfinches, blackbirds, and other cage birds, but none of these had pink eyes. 
Chirbury, Beckenham, Kent. 
Referring to Mr. A. Belt’s remarks in the January number of Nature Notes 
on the colour of the eye in albino birds, I may say that I have a specimen of a 
pure white rook, picked up while still living by my daughters, in my old parish 
in Kent. The colour of the irides in the living bird were of a lovely pale blue, 
as nearly as possible like those of the jay ; the legs and beak were pink. I think 
this will settle the question as to whether or not albino birds have always pink 
eyes, as mammals are said to have. A. Ravvson. 
Windermere. 
I have kept Cajuga ducks many years, and taken great pains in breeding 
them, and have taken prizes. They often throw white feathers with age, but we 
never keep those that have any white when young. Two years ago we had a 
pure white one ; it was blind of one eye, and the sight of the other was not 
good, but the eyes were dark. Last year again we had a pure white one, a large 
duck ; her eyes were exactly like the others, and she was very hardy and strong. 
M. 
Seagulls Inland. — Lady Fry writes from 1, Palace Houses, Bayswater 
Hill, W., referring to seagulls seen flying over the Thames during the recent 
severe weather. She wishes to know if such an occurrence is rare. [In the Birds 
of the Ealing District, by Mr. Anthony Belt, mention is made of the common 
gull, the black-headed gull and the herring gull, as appearing in flocks on the 
Thames about Kew and Richmond after severe weather. This winter seven sea-\ 
gulls were noticed in one of the ponds in Bushey Park, near Hampton \\ ick. 
Other instances will be given in “ Some London Birds,” an Avifauna of Hyde 
Park and its vicinity by Mr. A. H. Macpherson, B.A., which will shortly be 
printed in Nature Notes.] 
