Letters, Extracts, and Notes. 185 



the egg it was slightly broken, and my brother, who was at 

 Dinan in 1895, described the egg to me as being cracked, 

 poorly marked, and dirty. 



Early in September last Mr. Henry Stevens, who was staying 

 in St. Malo, kindly went with me to Dinan to photograph the 

 egg. Upon our arrival we found that the Castle (until 

 lately used as a prison) had been restored and made into a 

 museum, but not finding many Natural History specimens 

 exhibited, Ave called on the Curator, who told us that he 

 knew nothing of any Great Auk's egg being in the collection. 

 The birds and other animals were so old and badly stuffed that 

 they were not M'orth moving and on the previous afternoon 

 had all been stored in an attic at the Hotel de Ville. We 

 then called upon the Maire, M. J. Jouanin, who very kindly 

 accompanied us to the Hotel de Ville and had the room 

 unlocked, and on the floor, amidst a jumble of stuffed birds, 

 I found the remains of the Great Auk's egg. 



Mr. Stevens kindly photographed the two largest frag- 

 ments, 3" X H" and l|"x 1|", and these shew that the e^^ 

 was marked with faint blotches at the larger end. As few of 

 the other fragments were so large as a shilling, it was im- 

 possible to form any idea as to the size or shape of the 



whole egg. 



Yours &c., 



Edward Bidwell. 



Report of the South African Museum for 1909. — The report 

 of this important Institution for the year ended 3 1st December, 

 1909, is rather a sad document. The severe measures of 

 economy occasioned by the state of the Colonial finances 

 have not spared the JNIuseum. The Trustees complain of 

 lack of space, insufficiency of staff', and want of funds, and 

 shew most plainly that their remarks can be fully justified. 

 Nevertheless, some progress has been made under nearly 

 every head, especially as regards Vertebrate Palaeontology. 

 A good addition to the Bird-collection has resulted from the 

 visit of Mr. P. C. Keytel, of Cape Town, to the Tristan 



SEK. IX. VOL. v. o 



