217 
Letters, Announcements, fyc. 
On Commodore Sir Leopold M f Clintock's return from the 
Arctic Expedition of 1852-53, in the course of which he accom¬ 
plished that marvellous sledge-journey of over 1400 miles, though 
compelled by the exigencies of the case to throw away almost 
all the specimens of natural history which he had collected, he 
succeeded in bringing home with him to Ireland a few fossils 
(shells and corals) and an egg of the Ivory Gull. 
The following extracts from Sir Leopold's diary, written on 
the spot, show the circumstances under which this interesting 
specimen was obtained :— 
“From the 12th to the 15th of June we were examining the 
Polynia Islands, the northernmost of which I have called f Ire¬ 
land's Eye.' It lies almost under the 78th parallel. None of 
these islands are more than 60 feet above the sea, and they are 
entirely composed of gravel. Upon one I saw two bird's nests 
of former years. They were chiefly made of moss; and much 
more of it had been used in their construction than I had seen 
growing upon the whole group. The broken pieces of egg-shell 
were of a pale olive-colour, with irregular dark-brown blotches." 
On the 18th of June the return-journey commenced, and on the 
20th Sir Leopold was on the east shore of Prince Patrick's Island. 
He writes, “ as I was rounding Cape Krabbe, lat. 77° 25' N., 
long. 116° W., I saw an Ivory Gull seated upon her nest on a 
bare patch of gravel, near the beach. There was one egg in the 
nest. The nest was exactly the same as those seen on the Polynia 
island ; but in addition to the moss, there was a little white down 
and a few feathers in it. This nest had served for several seasons." 
Thus far Sir L. M‘Clintock's account, which I consider to be 
conclusive; but knowing how very accurate one should be in 
these matters, and how hard it is to convince an oologist of the 
authenticity of a rare egg, allow me to place the evidence thus :— 
1st. Sir Leopold saw the Ivory Gull on her nest. 
2ndly. There was only one nest seen at the time. 
3rdly. In the nest he found an egg, which he took and brought 
home. 
4thly. I have his word for it that it was the only egg picked 
up by him on this journey; and this specimen is now in the 
Museum of the Royal Dublin Society. 
