^OO Thayer, Purchase of Great Auk. P^ 



THE PURCHASE OE A GREAT AUK FOR THE 

 THAYER MUSEUM AT LANCASTER, MASS. 



BY JOHN E. THAYER. 



{Plates XIII and XIV. ) 



Through Mr. Rowland Ward of London I have had the good 

 fortune to purchase a Great Auk (Plantus impennis) and three 

 eggs. The following is an account of the bird and eggs. 



Mounted Bird. 



This specimen was bought for Viscount Hill's Hawkstone col- 

 lection in 1838 from Gould, the Naturalist, and was first men- 

 tioned by the late Mr. R. Champley of Scarborough in the 

 'Annals and Magazines of Natural History,' 1864, Vol. XIV, 

 page 235. The Hawkstone collection was sold to Mr. Beville 

 Stanier, who has a collection of birds of his District. A Great 

 Auk not consistently belonging to a local collection, he decided to 

 sell it and it was purchased through Rowland Ward of London 

 for the Thayer Museum. 



The following is taken from the Hawkstone catalogue, — " This 

 Bird was re-set up by H. Shaw in 1867, and is supposed to be the 

 best specimen in existence." * 



The Three Eggs. 



These eggs came from the collection of Mr. Robert Champley 

 of Scarborough, England. He had nine Great Auk eggs, which 

 were acquired by him in 1864 and a few years preceding that 

 date. 



Three of these came from the Royal College of Surgeons. 

 London. Two of these eggs, No. 7 and 8, are the ones I bought. 

 My other egg, Mr. Champley bought in Paris. 



1 It would be better to say "one of the best " instead of " best," although 

 it really is a magnificent specimen. 



