NUTT ALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 
23 
Sandpipers, and as these species are shot in such immense num- 
bers during the migrations is it not a little strange tliat we do 
not hear of more examples, as such curiosities are alwa3^s pre- 
served, even by the market gunner. P. minor and G. Wilsoni 
have been shot in white plumage, and thus our four game-birds 
have been added to the list. 
P. Carolina., in albinistic plumage is among the collection in 
the Boston Museum. Examples of others of this family I have 
not noted. I have seen nine species representing albinism among 
the AnatidcB. A partial want of coloration in B. hernida is an 
interesting specimen ; A. boschas., Q. discors., H. glacialis^ F. affin- 
is and P. vallisneria., bore more traces of albinism than of their 
normal plumage, while specimens of B. dangula., A. albeola., and 
O.fusca., were pure white, this latter presenting almost a^s great 
a contrast as in the case of the Crow. The Pr ocellar iidcB are 
represented b}^ one species, P. giganteus., which is in the collec- 
tion of the Philadelphia Academy. 
One of the finest and most attractive examples is among the 
Colymbidoe., a snow'’-white specimen of C. septentrionolis, which was 
shot in Salem Harbor, Mass., and is now in m}^ possession. A 
similar curiosity is at the Smithsonian Institution. An albino 
L. troile is in the Museum collection at Toronto, Canada. U. 
grylle and M. alle have also been recorded. 
Many questions w'ould naturally arise as to the cause of this 
abnormal state in which so many of our birds are found, though 
I believe it is generally understood to be a lack of the coloring 
matter deposited in the j^ells of the feathers. It is certainly not 
infiuenced by any climatic changes or geographical distribution, 
as specimens are taken throughout the country, and not more or 
less abundant in any locality ; nor is it caused by old age, for 
we have heard of broods of 3'oung Quail in albinistic state ac- 
companied by white parents ; and another interesting example, 
is that of a 3^oung Eobin, milk-white, still unable to leave the 
nest. This specimen was taken at Saybrook, Conn., by Mr. 
H. A. Purdie, who informs me that the parent birds were in 
normal dress. 
Whether any specimens hatched in this stage have been de- 
tected to attain any of their regular plumage after the moult, I 
am unable to say, though should think it very doubtful. I have 
heard an instance of a white Eobin building its nest for several 
successive years on the same spot in an old wood-shed. This 
