4.66 BOTAURUS STELLARIS. 
Inside this egg I found a young bird far advanced—the down very 
long, the beak comparatively short, as in young Herons and other 
birds. I saw a dead Bittern in a shop a day or two afterwards. 
§ 5243. One.—Holland, 1854. From Mr. Green. 
[§ 5244. One—‘ 1818.” From the late Mr. Scales’s Col- 
[§ 
lection, 1885. , 
Given to me by Mr. Robert Scales with the remains of his late father’s 
collection, by whom it was marked in pencil “ Bittern 1818.” It is blown by 
two irregularly shaped holes in the side, and I attach considerable value to it, 
for it is most likely a British, if not a Norfolk, specimen. Though we know 
that Mr. Scales was in Paris in 1816 or 1817, the inscribed date precludes his 
having obtained it there, and I have no evidence of his having been in Holland 
before 1825. The chances are considerably in favour of its having been by far 
easier for him to procure a Bittern’s egg, as this certainly is, in Norfolk or from 
the Whittlesey country in 1818, than in or from Holland or elsewhere on the 
Continent at that time. ] 
5245. One.—‘ Horsey, Norfolk, 1841.” From Mr. E. 
Preston, 1858. 
This egg, blown at the ends, formed lot 77 at the sale of Mr. Preston’s 
collection at Mr. Stevens’s rooms, 23 March, 1858, and was described in the 
Catalogue as taken at “ Horsey, Norfolk, 1841.” Mr. Preston in replying ‘to 
enquiries I made of him wrote a few days after assuring me; that he had 
obtained it from the late Mr, Smith, librarian to the Yarmouth book-club, and 
that it was taken as stated. In estimating the value of this egg, it must be 
borne in mind that there were several statements in the Catalogue which 
greatly needed explanation. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to suppose that the 
Bittern did continue to breed at Horsey so late as 1841.] 
[§ 5246. One.—Holland. From Mr. A. Bots, of Valkenswaard, 
1854.] 
[§ 5247. One.—Schiedam, 5 May, 1859. From Mr. J. Baker. ] 
[§ 5248. One.—Naarden, 30 May, 1859. From Mr. J. Baker. ] 
