THE GREAT AUK 91 



without success, although the poor unfortunate 

 was killed the following year, preserved, and sent 

 to him. This specimen is now in the British 

 Museum. The hen bird of this pair had been 

 killed previous to Bullock's visit. One other 

 British example was caught in a landing-net in 

 Waterford harbour in May 1834, and is now 

 preserved in Trinity College Museum, Dublin. 

 Other evidence of the Great Auk's former existence 

 in Ireland is presented in its remains found in 

 some numbers on the coast of Antrim,^ with those 

 of the horse, dog, and wolf, and more recently in a 

 " kitchen midden " in the county of Waterford. 

 Remains of this bird have also been found in the 

 superficial deposits in the Cleadon Hills in Durham, 

 as well as at Oronsay and Caithness. 



We now turn to the story of the Great Auk's 

 extirpation in America, — a record of wanton cruelty 

 and carnage that would be hard to beat, — " countless 

 myriads of this flightless fowl," says Mr. Lucas, 

 " hunted to the death with the murderous instincts 

 and disregard for the morrow so characteristic of 

 the white race." Although there is evidence to 

 suggest that the bird was formerly abundant at 



^ Irish Naturalist, vol. v. p. 121 : Proc. R. I. A. (3) iii. pp. 

 650-663. 



