60 



THE OOLOOIST. 



Egg, w'hich was bought for the record 

 price of 300 guineas, and other won- 

 ders, come to the hammer. The auc- 

 tioneer, however, experienced the ut- 

 most difficulty in getting bids for 

 some of the treasures on which their 

 late owner had set such store, and 

 they were knocked down at beggarly 

 prices. 



By the time the ornithological and 

 natural history collection was reached 

 bidders appeared to have overcome 

 the reluctance to bid, which made the 

 earlier stages of the sale so tedious, 

 but with regard to prices they remain- 

 ed unrepentant. Only ten shillings 

 wa soffered for a valuable stuffed go- 

 rilla, while a fine specimen of the blue- 

 faced monkey changed hands for 3s. 

 less. A whole case of tropical birds 

 of brilliant plumage went for £8 8s. 



As 2 o'clock, the time announced for 

 the sale of the Great Auk's Egg, ap- 

 proached, the room rapidly filled, but 

 it was half-past the hour before the 

 most remarkable feature of the sale 

 was reached. The late Mr. Middle- 

 brook made a quiet corner in auk's 

 eggs during his lifetime, and from an 

 average of about £75 the price of 

 this, his finest specimen, had risen to 

 the record sum of £315 ($1512.00), 

 w'hen he purchased it by auction in 

 1899. Yesterday, as was expected, 

 there was a conisderable slump in 

 value, the last bid being £110 ($5'28.- 

 00). 



An egg of the -^Epyornis sold for 

 £30 ($144.00). 



T. REED, 



London, England. 



OUR NATIONAL FLAG. 



The official flag of the United States 

 bears forty-five stars (one for each 

 state) in a blue field, arranged in six 

 rows — the first, third and fifth rows- 

 having eight stars each, the alternate 

 even rows having seven stars each. 

 The garrison flag of the army is made 

 of bunting, thirty-six feet fly and twen- 

 ty feet hoist; thirteen stripes, and ia 

 the upper quarter, next the staff, is; 

 the field or "union" of stars, equal to 

 the number of states, on blue field, 

 over one-third length of the flag, ex- 

 tending to the lower edge of the fourth, 

 red stripe from the top. The storm 

 flag is twenty feet by ten feet, and the 

 recruiting flag nine feet nine inches 

 by four feet four inches. The Ameri- 

 can "Jack" is the union or blue field of 

 the flag. The Revenue Marine Ser- 

 vice flag, authorized by Act of Con- 

 gress, March 2, 1799, was originally 

 prescribed to "consist of sixteen per- 

 pendicular stripes, alternate red and 

 white, the union of the ensign bearing^ 

 the arms of the United States in dark 

 blue on a white field." The sixteen 

 stripes represented the number of 

 states which had been admitted to 

 the Union at that time, and no change 

 has been made since. Prior to 1871 

 it bore an eagle in the union of the 

 pennant, which was then substituted 

 by thirteen stars in a white field, but 

 the eagle and stars are still retained. 



June 14th, the anniversary of the 

 adoption of the National fiag, is cele- 

 brated as Flag Day in the public 

 schools, and by the display of the em- 

 blem on public buildings and private 

 houses in a large part of the Union. 



