July i i, 1907] 



NA TURE 



Thus, apropos of the pintail, Wolley expresses his 

 feelings on the identification of eggs : — 



" In common with some other ornithologists I had 

 long been almost in a state of desperation about several 

 of the ducks — about most of those, in fact, which do 

 not, occasionally at least, breed in Great Britain. 

 Many a collector could produce Ike eggs of what ducks 

 you please at a moment's notice, hut feiv, very jeiv, 

 could give any kind of satisfactory account of them." 



[That portion of the extract italicised was omitted by 

 Hewitson.] 



The fact is that a crisis was impending in the 

 history of Wolley 's collection. We gather from an 

 inspection of the catalogue that many of the rarer 

 eggs had been supplied, for the most part in single 

 specimens, by dealers from abroad. It must in justice 

 be said of M. Favrier, of Tangier, where Wolley paid 

 a visit about 1845, that eggs of rare birds supplied 

 by him were afterwards proved to be genuine on com- 

 parison with well-identified eggs obtained by Tris- 

 tram's Algerian party in 1857. Subsequently to this 

 date Wolley was enabled to supply deficiencies in his 

 collection from the above source, partly by gifts and 

 partly through exchange. But the problem of the 

 nidification of birds breeding- in the north of Europe 

 he determined to solve for himself, and, as we have 

 seen, the cream of his results went to swell the plates 

 and pages of the third edition of " Hewitson." Those 

 who wish to know more of this subject must consult 

 the pages of the " Ootheca," and if we venture to 

 deal with any particular group, by way of illustra- 

 tion, the Limicolae perhaps will suit our purpose as well 

 as any other, and a partial extract' here and there 

 must suffice. Ex uno disce omnes. Wolley's psean 

 of delight in fully identifying the eges of jack-snipe 

 may be quoted, partly for the purpose of illustrating 

 his methods in Lapland. 



" The next morning I went to Kharto-uoma 

 with a good strength of beaters. I kept them 

 as well as I could in line, myself in the 

 middle. . . . Whenever a bird was put off its nest 

 the man who saw it was to pass on the word, and 

 the whole line was to stand, whilst I went to examine 

 the eggs." 



At length the expected signal was given, a nest 

 had been discovered, and the sight of the eggs 

 as they lay untouched raised his expectations to the 

 highest pitch, until he succeeded in shooting " a true 

 jack-snipe, the undoubted parent of the nest of eggs." 

 .Another most important find were the eggs of the 

 spotted redshank, and these ultimately in considerable 

 numbers, quite close to Muoniovara, his Lapland 

 home. The editor doubts whether any ornithologist 

 previous to this had ever seen a genuine specimen. 

 Three picked eggs of this species were selected for 

 figuring in the third edition of " Hewitson," 

 and the editor expresses his regret that the pre- 

 sent condition of these eggs in the collection 

 would not justify him in figuring additional 

 specimens. .Another rare egg of this group 

 is that of the bar-tailed godwit. A nest of four was 

 obtained in Kittila, June 12, 1854, in time .for Hewit- 

 son to figure two of them ; the entire clutch is still in 

 the collection. In 1858 and subsequently, some more 

 NO. 1967, VOL. 76J 



complete clutches were secured, but on the whole it 

 is probable that the bulk of these birds breed more 

 to the eastward, as none came under Wolley's special 

 notice. Hence eggs with " Puna Kuovi " in Wolley's 

 handwriting are not to be found in many collections. 

 Probably all the species of the Limicolas which breed in 

 Central Lapland were procured with their eggs, but 

 there still remained species the nesting-places of which 

 lie east of the White Sea, such as the grey plover, the 

 little stint, the sanderling, the knot, and the curlew- 

 sandpiper, the eggs of which were not added to his 

 spoils. Their discovery is duly recorded in the 

 " Ootheca " supplement, years after Wolley's death, 

 and the melancholy reflection prevails that in this 

 direction there is nothing more to be done. 

 In the supplement the editor, apropos of specimens 

 of knot and curlew-sandpiper from the New Siberian 

 group found in 1902 and added to the collection in 

 1905, directs attention to an article in the Ibis for 

 1904 by Mr. Dresser. This is a translation in ab- 

 stract of Dr. Walter's researches in the Taimyr 

 peninsula, where the translator observes that 

 " Dr. Walter succeeded in taking eggs and young in 

 down of the sanderling (Calidris arenaria), curlew- 

 sandpiper (Tringa subarquata), and knot (Tringa 

 canutus), the eggs of the last being especially valu- 

 able, as they are the first well-authenticated specimens 

 yet obtained." 



We presume that he is referring to eggs laid 

 in the free state, as the editor claims to have the 

 ege: of the knot laid in the late Lord Lilford's aviary. 



There are not many illustrations in part iv., but 

 the work as a whole is sufficiently illustrated, especially 

 part i. These illustrations are mainly of two kinds — 

 figures principally of eggs, and lithographic landscapes. 

 The plates of the eggs of raptorial birds by Balcombe 

 are very successful. There are three plates devoted to 

 eggs of the golden eagle, every one of which has a 

 history, mainly Scotch eggs, though some came from 

 Lapland. Nor are these all of Wolley's own taking, 

 since both .Alfred and Edward Newton personally 

 shared in some of the .'Vrgyllshire captures. In the 

 delineation of the eggs of the Passerines, the artist 

 has perhaps not been quite so successful. 



" Of all Mr. Wolley's discoveries," observes the 

 editor, " the one with which his name will be es- 

 pecially perpetuated is his unveilinir the mystery that 

 had hitherto surrounded the breeding habits of the 

 waxwing." 



These eggs were not obtained in time for the third 

 edition of " Hewitson," but were figured in the Ibis for 

 1861 "as Mr. Hewitson only could depict them." 

 In the " Ootheca " an entire plate is devoted 

 to eggs of the waxwing, which exhibit a 

 fair amount of variety, but the figures do 

 not compare favourably with those in the Ibis. 

 One other group of eggs should be mentioned, viz., 

 the double portraits of the seven eggs of the great auk 

 contained in the collection, so well executed by 

 Gronvold. The details regarding these eggs occupy 

 about twenty pages of the catalogue, and it may 

 interest persons who are prepared to give a high 

 price to learn that Wolley's first great auk's egg. 

 obtained on December 12, 1846, from Mr. D. Barclay 



