Vlll INTRODUCTION. 



waters; and also a considerable general collection, presented by 

 Mr. H. F. Walter. 



Two donations were made in 1853 : one by Mr. E. L. Layard of 

 the eggs of Ceylonese birds, and one by Sir Kenneth Loftus of eggs 

 collected in Persia and Mesopotamia. 



No more acquisitions appear to have been made for three years ; 

 but in 1856 a small collection from India was presented by Professor 

 Oldham, and another from Australia by Sir D. Cooper. 



In 1858, the Trustees were presented with a rather large collec- 

 tion of British birds' eggs by Mr. F. Bond ; and in 1859 with one 

 formed by Dr. Lyall during the voyage of H.M.S. ' Plumper ' in the 

 Northern Pacific Ocean. In the same year a collection made by 

 Mr. T. Ayres in Natal was acquired. 



A considerable interval again elapsed without any accessions to 

 the Collection ; but in 1863 Mr. J. K. Lord presented the specimens 

 he had taken in the Rocky Mountains and British Columbia, while 

 attached to the North American Boundary Commission, and in the 

 same year a valuable collection was received from Mr. Bernard R. 

 Boss, from the Saskatchewan and Mackenzie River Districts of 

 Canada. 



With the exception of a donation in 1869 from Mr. E. L. Layard 

 of specimens collected in South Africa, no additions were made 

 to the Collection till 1875, when Mr. S. 0. Sahlin presented a series 

 of Swedish eggs. 



In 1876, a particularly fine collection of eggs, procured "by the 

 Rev. A. E. Eaton in Kerguelen Island during the ' Transit of Venus ' 

 Expedition, was presented to the Trustees by the Royal Society. 



The accessions in 1878 consisted of a small number of specimens 

 from Samoa and other islands of the Pacific Ocean, procured by the 

 Rev. S. J. Whitmee ; and the small collection made by Sir George 

 Nares's Expedition to the Polar Sea in the ' Alert ' and ' Discovery,' 

 of which ships Col. H. W. Feilden and Mr. C. Hart were respec- 

 tively the naturalists. 



In 1879, Admiral A. H. Markham contributed a few specimens 

 taken in Novaya Zemlya during his voyage in the ' Isbjorn.' 



In 1880, the valuable collection formed during the Voyage of 

 H.M.S. ' Challenger ' was received by the Trustees ; also a collec- 

 tion made by Sir Hugh Low in Borneo, as well as the eggs obtained 

 by Dr. R. W. Coppinger during the cruise of H.M.S. ' Alert.' 



In 1881, the acquisition of the late John Gould's collection of 

 eggs of Australian and European birds was a notable event. 



