1 896-97.] The Great Auk. 261 



paper in the 'Ibis,' July 1894, p. 243, says: "This egg 

 measures 4^ x 2^ inches, has a very rough texture, the 

 markings being chiefly shell-spots. It was purchased by Mr 

 Henry Munt for 175 guineas." 



London. — Three eggs, collection of Mr T. G. Middlebrook, 

 "Edinburgh Castle," 57 Mornington Eoad, N.W. 



No. 1. — This egg was bought from Perrot, a dealer in 

 Paris, on 23rd November 1847, for 200 francs (about £8, 

 3s. 4d.), by the late Sir William Milner, Bart, of Nunappleton, 

 Yorkshire ('Great Auk or Garefowl,' p. 104). It was sold 

 for his successor, Sir F. Milner, Bart., M.P., at the auction 

 rooms of Mr J. C. Stevens, 38 King Street, Covent Garden, 

 London, W.C., on 23rd April 1895, lot 261, for 180 guineas, 

 at which price it was bought by Mr T. G. Middlebrook. 



No. 2. — The egg that was in the collection of the late Mr 

 T. H. Potts, who died very suddenly in 1888, was seen by 

 me at the house of his widow at Christchurch, New Zealand, 

 who told me she was anxious to dispose of it. It was some 

 years afterwards, about the beginning of 1891, purchased by 

 Mr Henry 0. Forbes, then curator of the Canterbury Museum, 

 Christchurch, N.Z., it was said for a friend in England. 1 

 This is perhaps the only egg of Alca impennis that has ever 

 been in the Southern Hemisphere, and it has now found its 

 way back to England. It was in the collection of Mr Leopold 

 Field, 25 Brodrick Eoad, London, S.W. He sold it to Mr 

 Rowland Ward, F.Z.S., 166 Piccadilly, London, W. (see litt., 

 4th January 1897). 



I was shown this egg by Mrs Potts on 13th March 1889, 

 and I find the following note in my diary : " It is covered 

 with small blotches, and finely marked with thick pencillings 

 at the large end. It has a large amount of white on the body 

 and a very little dark shading. Several of the marks are 

 almost lost in the shell, as if they had been absorbed by the 

 calcareous matter before the egg was laid, but they show quite 

 clearly. It is an average-sized egg, in a very good state of 

 preservation, and has been end-blown. The holes at each end 



1 'New Zealand Herald,' monthly summary, 24th April 1891; also p. 89, 

 and App., p. 31, 'The Great Auk or Garefowl : its History, Archaeology, and 

 Remains.' 



