October, 1919] 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



71 



shell-heap on Cape Cod,^" and, according to Put- 

 nam, bones were also taken from the shell-heaps 

 of Marblehead and Plumb island. " 



Shell-heaps on Block island, off the coast of 

 Rhode Island, likewise yielded evidence of its 

 presence. ' 



The most interesting discovery yet recorded, 

 however, is that of two left humeri of this bird in 

 a shell-heap at Ormond, Florida, in 1902, by W. 

 S. Blatchley and C. H. Hitchcock, which indicates 

 that this bird must have gone farther south than has 

 been generally supposed, but it is very doubtful 

 whether it was a permanent resident of Florida. - 



ground that the bones are probably those of birds 

 taken during their migration southward.'' Miss 

 Hardy, on the other hand, maintains that the bones 

 are those of summer residents and not migrants,"^ 

 because she thinks she "can show the best of 

 reasons for believing that nineteen-twentiethg of all 

 the clams and oysters represented by one shell-heap 

 were taken and shelled during the summer months." 

 Dr. Eaton, however, speaking of the Block Island 

 shell-heaps, says, "there is no reason for supposing 

 that they were deposited during the summer only, 

 or even principally. On the contrary, the remains 

 of many birds which visit our coast in the autumn 



Summer Hi>itat of G/'2-t/^aK. Winter RewT^e . Archzeolo^ic^l Elvidence. 



The discovery of the bones of the Great Auk 

 in shell-heaps has given rise to the question whether 

 or not the bird was a summer resident of the New 

 England coast. This has been discussed by 

 Lucas, Miss Hardy and others. Lucas takes the 



4oSecond Annual Report of the Peabody 

 Museum (Boston, 1869), p. 17. 



.".fiThe American Naturalist (Salem, Mass., 1870), 

 Vol. Ill, p. 540; Note. 



oiEaton, George F. : The Prehistoric Fauna of 

 Block Island, as Indicated by its Ancient Shell- 

 Heqps, The American Journal of Science (New 

 Haven, Conn., 1898), Vol. VI, pp. 143 and 147-148. 



nsHay, Dr. O. P.: On the Finding of the Bones 

 of the Great Auk (Plautus impennis) in Florida, The 

 Auk, 1902, Vol. XIX, pp. 255-258. 



and early spring rather indicate a permanent resi- 

 dence of the Indians there. Furthermore, the fact 

 that all the auk bones found belonged to mature 

 skeletons is opposed to the theory that these birds 

 bred on the island."'"' Forbush, considering the 

 archaeological and historical evidence, seems in the 

 main to agree with Miss Hardy's conclusion and 

 thinks "we have the best of evidence that the Great 

 Auk was found in summer at the head of Buzzard 



-.sGreat Auk Notes, The Auk, 1888, Vol. V, 

 p. 232. 



^iHardy, Fanny P., Testimony of Some Early 

 Voyagers on the Great Auk, ibid., p. 384. 



."..-.Op. cit., p. 148. 



