JOURDAIN : THE BREEDING OF THE HONEY BUZZARD.
239
his father, Major Turle, of Newton Stacey, Hants, It came
under the hammer at Stevens' Rooms on 28 April 1908, when
this egg was catalogued as follows : "Lot 157.—Honey Buzzard
1 (Redway, June 1887)." The egg, which had lost much of
its beauty through age and was erroneously described in the
catalogue, attracted little attention. It was knocked down to
the late Major F. W. Proctor, of Maidenhead, and remained
in his possession till his death in June 1916.
In 1917, I purchased this egg ; and, on examining Turk's
data ticket, I noticed at once that the error in the sale catalogue
was due to the printer or compiler ; for on the egg itself is clearly
written, "Little Baddow Rodney, Essex, June 1847, Rev. S.
Pearson." The set-mark, "1/2," is
also given and, in another hand,
the words "Honey Buzzard"
(see fig. 1).2 The data on the ticket
agree exactly with those inscribed
on the egg. It will be seen, there-
fore, that the entry in Stevens' sale
catalogue of April 1908 contained
two very misleading errors—"Red-
way "for Rodney,3 and "1887" for
1847. The egg is blown with holes
at each end, and the original deep

EGG OF HONEY BUZZARD TAKEN AT
LITTLE BADDOW IN JUNE 1847.
rich reddish chocolate has faded to

a dirty sepia tint ; so that, as a
specimen, apart from its historical interest, the egg is almost
valueless ; but these facts speak in favour of, rather than
against, its authenticity. Moreover, the custom of blowing
eggs with one hole at the side has only gradually become
general during the last sixty years, and was almost unknown
before the days of Newton and Wolley. Personally, I am
inclined to look with suspicion on fresh-looking eggs blown with
neatly drilled holes at the side and bearing dates prior to 1850.
It is interesting to note that the bird recorded by Mr. C.
Smoothy in the Field for 2 June 1888 was shot in Little Baddow
Woods a fortnight earlier in the year, when it might very well
2 There is no certainty as to the identity of this handwriting on the egg. It is worth
noting, perhaps, that the place is still often called "The Little Baddow Rodney," to
distinguish it from the many other inns named after Admiral Lord Rodney.
3 There is no place in Britain known as "Redway."