Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 3 (1899).djvu/247

Rh adoption. His grandfather was a magistrate in Amsterdam, and his father, who emigrated to America at an early age, entered the Army, and held for years the appointment of Lieutenant-Governor of New York. Col. de Peyster entered the Army before he was seventeen years of age, and the best part of his military career was spent in Canada. His wife was a Dumfries lady, and probably for that reason the last years of his life were spent here. He died at Dumfries Nov. 26th, 1822, at the age of ninety-seven, having held the Royal Commission for upwards of fourscore years.— (Maxwelltown, Dumfries).

[A white Tiger is reported as having recently been shot in Assam. The general colouration of the skin is white, the stripes not being very clearly indicated. We read that the skin has been sent to Mr. Newing, a Calcutta taxidermist, for preservation.—]

White Eggs of Redbreast (Erithacus rubecula).—On the 15th of April this year I found a Redbreast's nest in a bank, containing a pure white egg, and at the time of writing there are five, and the bird is sitting. The eggs are very round in shape, and greatly resemble a small Kingfisher's egg in appearance. I enclose one for inspection.— Jun. (Maynard's Green, Horsham Road, Sussex).

[Pure white eggs of the Robin are well known, though some collectors have never met with them under natural conditions. This bird is now very abundant on my part of the Surrey Hills, and Mr. Service informs me of the same plentitude near Dumfries, where he has never previously seen the nests so numerous.—]

A Stray Visitor to Kent.—On Saturday morning (April 15th), whilst eating my breakfast opposite a window facing my garden, I observed a tiny Warbler doing me good service by clearing the aphides from my rose trees. The sun was shining, and the bird was only about eight feet distant from me, so that I could see it quite distinctly; it was about the size of a Goldcrest, but olive-green above, pale yellow beneath, and with a well-defined eye-stripe. If this was not Phylloscopus superciliosus, I can give no name to it, for it was far too small for a Chiffchaff or a Willow Warbler, both of which I often see either in the spring or autumn in my garden. I watched the bird carefully for three or four minutes before it flew away.— (Beckenham Road, Beckenham, Kent).

The Grasshopper Warbler in Breconshire.—As might be expected from the nature of the country, the Grasshopper Warbler (Sylvia locustella) is not uncommon in Breconshire. We have here most of the conditions in which this little summer migrant delights, such as rushy meadows with