Letters, Announcements, &;c. 217 



On Commodore Sir Leopold M'Clintock's return from the 

 Arctic Expedition of 1852-53, in the course of which he accom- 

 plished that marvellous sledge-journey of over 1400 miles, though 

 compelled by the exigencies of the case to throw away almost 

 all the specimens of natural history which he had collected, he 

 succeeded in bringing home with him to Ireland a few fossils 

 (shells and corals) and an egg of the Ivory Gull. 



The following extracts from Sir Leopold's diary, written on 

 the spot, show the circumstances under which this interesting 

 specimen was obtained : — 



" From the 12th to the 15th of June we were examining the 

 Polynia Islands, the northernmost of which I have called ' Ire- 

 land's Eye.' It lies almost under the 78th parallel. None of 

 these islands are more than 60 feet above the sea, and they are 

 entirely composed of gravel. Upon one I saw two bird's nests 

 of former years. They were chiefly made of moss; and much 

 more of it had been used in their construction than I had seen 

 growing upon the whole group. The broken pieces of egg-shell 

 were of a pale olive-colour, with irregular dark-brown blotches." 

 On the 18th of June the return-journey commenced, and on the 

 20th Sir Leopold was on the east shore of Prince Patrick's Island. 

 He writes, " as I was rounding Cape Krabbe, lat. 77° 25' N., 

 long. 116° W., I saw an Ivory Gull seated upon her nest on a 

 bare patch of gravel, near the beach. There was one egg in the 

 nest. The nest was exactly the same as those seen on the Poljnia 

 island ; but in addition to the moss, there was a little white down 

 aiid a few feathers in it. This nest had served for several seasons." 



Thus far Sir L. M'Clintock's account, which I consider to be 

 conclusive; but knowing how very accurate one should be in 

 these matters, and how hard it is to convince an oologist of the 

 authenticity of a I'are egg, allow me to place the evidence thus : — 



1st. Sir Leopold saw the Ivory Gull on her nest. 



2ndly. There was only one nest seen at the time. 



3rdly. In the nest he found an egg, which he took and brought 

 home. 



4thly. I have his word for it that it was the only egg picked 

 up by him on this journey; and this specimen is now in the 

 Museum of the Royal Dublin Society. 



