1 14 Recent Notes on the Great Ajik, [Sess. 



attracted by the broken egg-shell, and having some idea of its value, 

 he asked Mr Hill ■why he did not take better care of it. The reply 

 he got was that it was a useless egg-shell, and it had often been 

 intended to destroy it, but that to settle the matter it would be thrown 

 on the fire there and then. The clergyman advised Mr Hill not to be 

 in such a hurry to destroy it, as he believed the egg-shell was of con- 

 siderable value — if it was, as he supposed, that of a Great Auk. The 

 farmer was incredulous, but agreed to wait ixntil the authorities at the 

 British Museum were communicated with. When he heard that, if it 

 was really an egg of the Great Auk, it was very valuable, he brought 

 it to London. He placed it in the hands of Mr Bowdler Sharpe, of 

 the British Museum, who put him in communication with Lord Lil- 

 ford, who bought it for £50. 



Cambridge. Collection of Mr G. L. Russell. — Since this paper was 

 read, this egg, along with a collection, has been presented to the 

 Natural History Museum, Cambridge. 



Croydon, Surrey. The egg that belonged to the late Mr Alfred 

 Crowley is now in the possession of his brother, Mr Philip Crowley, at 

 Waddon House. 



London. Collection of the late Lord Garvagh. — On the 5th February 

 1886 the present Lord Garvagh wrote informing me that the whole 

 collection of the late Lord Garvagh was sold to the Dublin Museum, 

 and that if the broken egg was retained in the collection it would 

 be found there. I have, however, ascertained that they know noth- 

 ing regarding the broken egg in that Institution. 



London. Collection of Mr Gardiner. — This egg belonged to Mrs 

 Wise, who lived at one time near Reigate, Surrey. This lady re- 

 moved to Steyning, near Brighton, and sold the egg in her possession 

 at Mr J. C. Stevens's Auction Rooms, Covent Garden, on the 12tli 

 March 1888, for the sum of £225, to Mr Gardiner, dealer in natural 

 history wares, Oxford Street, London. Holland was the maiden 

 name of Mrs AVise, and her late father, Mr H. Lancelot Holland, 

 bought the egg on 6th October 1851 for £18 from Williams of Lon- 

 don, who, in turn, had bought it from Let'evre of Paris. 



Saffron- TValden. The egg that was in the collection of Mr Tuke, 

 Hitchin, Hertfordshire, is now in the Saffron-Walden Museum. The 

 curator, Mr Maynard, is said to have taken some casts of it. 



Scarborough. Collection of Robert Champley, Esq. — I am much in- 

 debted to Mr Champley for kindly allowing me to publish the follow- 

 ing information regarding the history of the nine eggs in his collection, 

 which is the finest in existence. The information is from Mr Champ- 

 ley's private notes, made at the time of each transaction : — 



No 1, figured in Thienemann. — The above egg, and the first I 

 obtained, came into my possession in the following singular manner. 

 I had written to Mr Newman, the editor of ' The Zoologist,' a letter 

 asking him if he could inform me what had become of the egg that 

 belonged to the late Mr Yarrell. I received no reply ; but my letter 



J 



