THE GREAT AUK 89 



Icelandic area, and possibly on the Faroes, the 

 Orkneys, and some of the Norwegian islands.^ 

 There is little evidence to suggest that the Great 

 Auk ever bred in any numbers, if at all, on St. 

 Kilda, Martin's statements notwithstanding. On 

 the western shores of the North Atlantic its range 

 extended from Greenland to Virginia, but the actual 

 breeding stations were few and far between. 

 There can be no doubt that the grand headquarters 

 of the Great Auk were on the American side of the 

 Atlantic, and there the most important station of 

 which we have any evidence at present was on Funk 

 Island, off Newfoundland, although other breeding- 

 places were possibly located along the coasts of 

 Labrador and South Greenland. In European 

 waters Iceland appears to have been the principal 

 resort of the Great Auk, and from here most of the 

 specimens of birds and eggs now in existence were 

 obtained. Here the colony was located on several 

 rocky islets situated some twenty-five miles to the 

 south-west of the main island, the birds continuing 

 to be fairl}'- numerous, although harassed from 

 time to time by collectors and others. But mis- 

 fortune seems to have settled upon the Great Auk, 



^ Apparent remains of an egg have been discovered recently 

 near Falsterbo, in South Sweden. 



