458 ENGLISH BIRD LIFE 



winged watchers overhead has arrived. In every 

 case it is death to the individual herring, but the 

 species still sails on, calm and strong in the strength 

 of indestructible quantity. 



Of the two species of Auk — the Great and the 

 Little — once to be described as British, a pathetic 

 interest attaches to the former, inasmuch as it 

 represents a race which has now become extinct, 

 not only in Great Britain but in the world. At 

 one time it was probablv not uncommon in these 

 islands, for its remains have been found in the 

 sea-caves of Durham, in Caithness, Argyllshire, 

 and in several localities in Ireland. An expert 

 swimmer, the Great Auk was unable to fly, and 

 this drawback, taken in conjunction with a confid- 

 ing disposition, led to its wholesale destruction. 

 In Newfoundland, Great Auks were once so plenti- 

 ful that it is stated " they multiplied so infinitely 

 upon a certain flat Hand that men drave them from 

 thence upon a boorde into their boates by hundreds 

 at a time, as if God had made the innocency of so 

 poore a creature to become such an admirable 

 instrument for the sustentation of man." 



In Iceland, too, the nesting Skerries were period- 

 ically visited, when great numbers of the birds were 

 carried away. Thus it came about that in 1844, 

 from a remote reef of rock known as Eldey, the 

 last pair of Great Auks were taken, and with 

 these this interesting species became exterminated. 



Sixty-nine examples of the egg of the Great Auk 

 are believed to exist in various collections, and 

 when any of these chance to come into the market, 



