156 



2. Another adult female. I purchased this from Mr. Rowland Ward, who had it from 

 Mr. Leopold Field in London, in 1897. According to a letter, dated Paris le 20 Jan., 

 1890, written by the late A. Boucard, who sold it in that year to Mr. Field, the history 

 is as follows: "This bird was captured in Iceland in 1837, did first belong to Mr. 

 Eimbeck of Brunswick and afterwards in the collection of Mr. Bruch from Mayence." 

 We must accept this information by the late A. Boucard as correct, though it is difficult 

 to understand that in the most painstaking and exact list of remains of the Great Auk, 

 by Prof. Wilhelm Blasius of Braunschweig, or anywhere else, no mention is made 

 of a specimen in the possession of the late Eimbeck, or the late Bruch. Moreover, 

 we have no explanation where this Auk has been between the time of Bruch's death 

 and 1890, when Boucard sold it to Mr. Field in London. 



This specimen has been described as " immature," but this is a mistake. Evidently it arose 

 from some white speckles being visible on the neck in the photograph (see Symington 

 Grieve, Trans. Edinburgh Field Nat. and Micros. Society, explanation to plate III, on 

 page 269). The specimen itself, however, shows no white speckles, but only worn 

 feathers, out of which the illusion arose in the photograph. This error has also been 

 transferred to the admirable treatise on the Great Auk in the New Edition of 

 Naumann. The grey shade "on the body lower than the wing," mentioned by 

 Mr. Symington Grieve, is not a sign of immaturity, but appears in all adult females, 

 though it is said to be absent in males. 



Some years ago an extraordinary rumour was current in Germany 

 about the Great Auk in the Brehm collection ; it was said to have been 

 exchanged by the widow of Pastor C. L. Brehm for a rare Dresden cup, and 

 that its present resting-place was unknown. I do not know who invented 

 this story, or how it arose, but suffice it to say, that the Auk which was in the 

 Brehm collection was sold to the late King of Italy, in 1868 or 1869. The 

 business was concluded by Dr. Otto Finsch, and the money was used for the 

 benefit of a brother of the late Dr. A. E. Brehm, as it had been the wish 

 of his father, Pastor Brehm. The specimen was re-stuffed by the late 

 taxidermist Schwerdtfeger in Bremen and forwarded to a professor in 

 Florence. It was kept for years at the "Veneria Reale," and recently, when 

 the collection at that castle was dissolved, was placed in the Museum at 

 Rome. It is one of the finest Great Auks known. 



