The following history of this egg is from an account furnished by Mr, 
Robert Champley to Mr. Symington Grieve (‘‘Recent Notes on the 
Great Auk,” Trans. Edin. Field Nat. and Micro. Soc., Nov. 23, 1887. 
p. 115). The egg was the fifth in Mr. Champley’s series of nine eggs 
of the Great Auk, and was bought by him in 1864, of Ward, the 
naturalist, in Vere Street, for £25. It had been offered to Mr. 
Champley by Fairmaire, of Paris, but owing to absence from home* 
the letter did not reach Mr. Champley till some time after it was 
written, and Fairmaire not receiving an answer, disposed of the egg to 
Ward. It is described in the Champley ‘Egg-Register’ as “perfect 
and well-marked.” 
EGG XXII. (Sale number twenty-one.) 
An egg of the Great Auk, on May 15th, 1902. 
Sale catalogue No. 10,515. 
Egg NXIT. - “ Lot A. A specimen of the Great Auk’s 
egg. One of the most beautiful and 
richly marked specimens ever offered for 
sale.” 
Knocked down to “ Mr, Macgregor ” for £304 10 O 
The egg was not however, really sold, the reserve price not having- 
been reached. 
This egg was one of the nine Great Auks’ eggs, at one time in the 
possession of the late Mr. Robert Champley, of Scarborough. Its 
history, like that of Mr. Stirling’s egg (No. XXI.), is taken from 
Mr. Champley’s letter above quoted to Mr. Symington Grieve, and 
it is described as being the first specimen procured by Mr. Robert 
Champley. The history reads thus “ No. 1, figured by Tliienemann. 
—The above egg and the first I obtained, came into my possession 
in the following singular manner, I had written to Mr. Newman 
the editor of ‘ The Zoologist,’ a letter asking him if he could inform 
me what had become of the egg that belonged to the late Mr. 
Yarrell, I received no reply ; but my letter to Mr. Newman, unknown 
to myself, was inserted on the outer cover of ‘ The Zoologist.’ Some 
months after I received a letter from Kunz, Leipzig. He informed me 
he had seen my query respecting Yarrell’s egg. and said he had an egg 
for sale. Would I have it? He wrote a second letter giving the price, 
£18 (July, 1859). Five letters refer to this transaction. The egg, from 
its beautiful shape, is the finest known. This egg was purchased 
When at Scarborough in the summer of 1SS0, I called at 13 The Crescent, and the 
late Alderman Robert Champley kindly showed me his nine eggs of the Great 
Auk, together with the mounted specimen of the bird, they were kept in a hu^e 
safe. On the decease of Mr. Champley, the bird and eggs became the property 
of his daughter, Miss Champley. Seven of the eggs were eventually 
acquired in 1902 by the firm of Rowland Ward, L,td., Piccadilly, gondon.—T. p 
