Vol. xv.] 72 



of the western form of the Black-eared Chat (Saxicola albi- 

 collis catarina, Whitaker), shot near Hove, Sussex, on May 

 22nd, 1905. It was examined in the flesh on the following 

 day by Mr. Butterfield. The present example forms the 

 second reported occurrence of this bird in the British 

 Islands (cf. Bull. B. O. Club, xii. no. xc. p. 78, 1902). 



Mr. E. Bidwell then made the following remarks : — 

 " A short time ago I purchased at Messrs. Stevens' Auction 

 "Rooms a box of stone carvings, fossil bones, pottery, &c, 

 which had been collected by the late Mr. Archibald Carlyle, 

 who was for many years engaged on the Archaeological 

 Survey of India. I had previously noticed in the 'lot' a 

 small tin box bearing a label ' Fossil Egg-shell? Nullas, 

 Kaui River, Banda/ To my surprise I found the contents 

 were fragments of the egg of a Struthious bird. After 

 submitting my find to Dr. C. W. Andrews, of the British 

 Museum, I placed portions of the egg-shell in the hands of 

 Mr. W. P. Pycraft, and asked his kind assistance in working 

 out its composition. The pliocene of the Sewalik Hills in 

 India has yielded the remains of an Ostrich-like bird. In 

 1857 a fossil egg was found in the Government of Kherson 

 in Southern Russia, and at the end of last century two eggs 

 w r ere dug out of a bank near Kalgan, about 140 miles from 

 Pekin." 



Mr. W. P. Pycraft supplemented Mr. Bid well's remarks 

 by a short account of the result of a microscopical exami- 

 nation of this shell, which appeared to be undoubtedly a 

 fragment of the egg-shell of a Struthious bird akin to the 

 modern Ostriches (Struthio) . In certain particulars, how- 

 ever, it appeared to be peculiar. Mr. Pycraft pointed out 

 that before this could be definitely settled further investi- 

 gation was necessary. At the same time, he hoped to be 

 able to make a thorough examination of the structure of the 

 egg-shell in all the Struthious birds, since the facts brought 

 to light during his preliminary observations seemed to show 



