Letters, Extracts, and Notes. 759 



My own impression, and that of several others, was that 

 our bird was a male, this opinion being based on the fact 

 that it was practically identical in size with Whitehead's 

 type-specimen (now in the British Museum), which was 

 sexed as a male. 



When our bird died it was immediately taken to the 

 Prosectorium, and its entrails were removed for examination 

 by the Pathologist. Tiie latter's assistant assured me that 

 lie carefully examined the bird, and that it was unquestionably 

 a female ; hence the statement in my recent paper. In the 

 light of the notes above given, however, I am much inclined 

 to think that a mistake was made, and that our bird was a 

 male, as at first supposed. Further material will doubtless 

 throw light on this point. 



I am, Sirs, yours &c, 

 Zoological Society's Gardens, D. Seth-Smith. 



June 3rd, 1910. 



Sirs, — In May 1905 I exhibited at the meeting of the 

 British Ornithologists' Club (see Bull. vol. xv. p. 72) some 

 fragments of fossil egg-shell which had been obtained by the 

 late Mr. Archibald Carlyle when engaged on the Archaeo- 

 logical Survey of India. When I purchased them at 

 Stevens's Auction Rooms these fragments were in a small 

 tin box bearing a label " Fossil Egg Shell ? Nullas, Kain 

 River, Banda." Mr. W. P. Pycraft supplemented my 

 remarks by a short account of the result of a microscopical 

 examination of the shell, which appeared to be undoubtedly 

 a fragment of the egg-shell of a Struthious bird akin to the 

 modern Ostriches (Struthio). Quite recently Dr. C. W. 

 Andrews, F.R.S., has been working on some fossil eggs of 

 Struthious birds, and from his microscopical examination of 

 these fragments has come to the conclusion that they are 

 parts of an egg of a species of Struthio, and that in the 

 distribution of the pores on the surface of the shell they 

 are almost identical with eggs of the Somaliland Ostrich 

 {Strut hio molybdophanes) , although possibly the shell is 



