( 241 ) 



EDITORIAL GLEANINGS 



A considerable amount of interest attached to the sale by auction, on 

 April 13th, at Messrs. J. C. Stevens's Rooms, in King Street, Covent 

 Garden, of a very fine and perfect specimen of an egg of the Great Auk. 

 There was a large attendance, and after a spirited competition, the bid- 

 ding starting at 100 guineas, quickly rose by five and ten-guinea bids 

 until the sum of 280 guineas was reached, at which price it was knocked 

 down to Mr. T. G. Middlebrook. During the last twenty years the pages 

 of this Journal have recorded the sales of several of these high-priced eggs, 

 in the same well-known sale-rooms : — 



1 Zoologist,' vol. iv. p. 365 ... July 2nd, 1880 ... 2 eggs ... ,6100 and £105 2s. 



,, 



,, xii. p. 28 . 



. Dec. 13th, 1887 .. 



• 1 egg 



.. £168. 



5» 



„ „ p. 143. 



. Mar. 12th, 1888 . 



. 1 „ 



£225. 



»> 



,,xviii.p. 108 . 



.. Feb. 22nd, 1894 . 



•1 „ 



£315. 



JJ 



,, xix. p. 193 . 



.. April 23rd, 1895 . 



• 1 „ 



£189. 



)> 



„ „ p. 269. 



.. June 25th, 1895 . 



.. 1 „ 



£173 5s. 



" 



„ xx. p. 192 . 



.. April 20th, 1896 . 



.1 „ 



£168. 



Mr. Thomas Thompson writes (' Newcastle Daily Journal,' April 

 28th), that "on the 20th March he noticed a Thrush's nest in a yew 

 tree in his orchard at Winlaton, and on the 27th it contained Black- 

 bird's eggs, the old female Blackbird flying off. He also saw the male 

 Thrush at different dates sitting very close in the nest on the young 

 birds, but on Friday, the 23rd inst., on examining the nest, he was 

 grieved to see that it had been interfered with by some small animal, most 

 likely a Mouse, as a hole had been made through the side. This work 

 must have alarmed the parent birds. The nest contained one young bird 

 only, and though warm it was dead. Mr. Duncan, of Newcastle, received 

 it the same day for preservation. Mr. Thompson adds that in over fifty 

 years' experience he never came across a like instance or yet ever heard of 

 such." 



In the 4 Annals of Scottish Natural History ' for April, Mr. William 

 Eagle Clarke records the occurrence of the Frigate Petrel, Pelagodroma 

 marina, on the west coast of Scotland. It was captured alive on the margin 

 of a stream on the west side of the island of Colonsay, on Jan. 1st of the 



