the Eggs of the Moa. 191 



apex " (compare also ' Nature/ lxvi. p. 160, 1900) . I heard 

 that the reserve-price at this auction was j£350 (according 

 to ' Nature ' .€200) , and that there was no bidder above 

 €150, while the egg is reported to have gone back to New 

 Zealand. My informant called the size " that of a medium 

 Ostrich egg" ; but this may have been an illusion, the more 

 rounded eggs of the Ostrich looking larger than they really 

 arc, according to G. Krause (see above, sub No. 2), and 

 measuring only about 150 by 120 mm. (Some years ago, 

 •' Nature ' reported (/. c.) that a Moa's egg had been sold by 

 auction for £250. I have not been able to trace this egg, 

 and do not know where it is now. Perhaps it refers to 

 No. 4.) The egg of the London auction in 1902 appears to 

 be the same of which Dr. Benham (TV. Pr. N.Z. Inst, xxxiv. 

 p. 150, 1902 ; read before the Otagolnst., June 11th, 1901) 

 recently wrote : — " I had an opportunity of examining a 

 second entire egg, which was obtained some months later by 

 the same man [viz., ' a dredge-hand on the Earnscleugh 

 gold-dredge, working on the River Molyneux, Otago/ 

 sec No. 2 and /. c. p. 149] about a hundred yards below the 

 spot at which our specimen [see No. 2] was taken. The 

 egg had been dipped in shellac (?), and was in a very dirty 

 condition when it was brought to the Museum in order that 

 the taxidermist might clean it before its transmission to 

 London for sale. He refused, however, to undertake the 

 responsibility . . . the two ends were similar, so that the egg 

 was a perfect ovoid." Dr. Benham gives the following 

 measurements : 201 by 138 mm., circumference 540 by 440 

 mm. These measurements, it is true, do not agree with 

 those given to me by Mr. Barnekow (229 by 127 mm. ) ; 

 nevertheless I take it for granted that they refer to the 

 same egg, my correspondent not having taken the measure- 

 ments himself, and the owners probably not having been 

 well versed in measuring birds' eggs. 



4. Sir Walter Bullcr has furnished me with the following 

 notes: — "About the year 1892 Sir George Grey (the 

 former Governor) wrote informing me of the discoverv of a 

 ' nearly perfect egg' (supposed to be that of D. robustus) in 



