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. {157} AESTRELATA CARIBBAEA (CARTE). (PLATE 37.) _Procellaria jamaicensis_ Bancroft, Zoological Journal V, p. 81 (1835--Nomen nudum!). _Pterodroma caribbaea_ Carte, P.Z.S. 1866, p. 93, pl. 10 ("Blue Mountains in insula Jamaica"). _Aestrelata caribbaea_ Giglioli & Salvadori, Ibis 1869, p. 66. _Fulmarus caribbaeus_ Gray, Handlist B. III, p. 107 (1871). _Aestrelata jamaicensis_ Ridgway, Man. N. Am. B., p. 67; Cory, Cat. West-Indian B., p. 84 (1892). _Oestrelata jamaicensis_ Salvin, Cat. B. Brit. Mus, p. 403 (1896). It is surprising that the name _jamaicensis_ has generally been adopted for this species, as Bancroft gave no description whatever. The first description is that of Carte, in 1866, which is as follows:--"Head, neck, back, and wings of a uniform dark sooty brown; vertex and external webs of the primaries a shade or so darker; abdominal feathers and under tail-coverts a shade or two lighter than those of the back; upper tail-coverts and basal portion of tail-feathers of a light grey or dirty white. The light-coloured patch on the rump is conspicuous when the wings are expanded, but completely concealed when they are closed. Irides dark hazel. Tarsi, toes, webs, and nails jet-black. "Length about 12¾ inches; expanse of wings 34 inches; length from carpal joint to tip of first primary 10¾ inches; length of bill, measured from gape, 1-5/8 inches; length of nasal tubes 5/16 inch; length of interval between nostrils and commencement of apical curve of upper mandible ¼ inch; length of tarsi 1-5/10 inches; length of toes, outer and middle, sub-equal 2 inches; length of inner toe 1-5/8 inches. First and second primaries sub-equal, and about ½ inch longer than the third. Tail about 4½ inches long and round at extremity. The closed wings extend about 1½ inches beyond the tail. Hallux small, and in shape triangular." "With respect to the habits of the bird, Mr. March has most kindly furnished me with the following interesting details:--