412 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec 



ject of my visiting the island was to collect further information 

 from those who were likely to have met with this bird, — which is 

 called "Pinwing"^' by the settlers, mud not Penguin, as Audubon 

 informs us, — in a living state, and also, if possible, to visit the is- 

 lands OQ the east coast, more especially Funk and neighboring is- 

 lands. The latter intention was, however unfortunately frustrated 

 by the severe accident I met with so shortly after my arrival, and, 

 although I met several old settlers who had seen the living bird 

 fishing in the mouths of Bonne Bay, Bay of Islands and Bay of 

 St. George, none could with certainty tell me when the last was 

 either seen or captured. I was, however, informed by some of the 

 settlers that " a living pinwing was caught by one Captain Stirling 

 about twelve years ago," but whether destroyed or not I could 

 not learn : Captain Stirling was crowned and his vessel wrecked 

 some seven or eight years since. I have no doubt this tale is 

 true in the main ; the only questionable part being the exact date 

 which, from my experience of these good-hearted peiple, is just as 

 likely to have been fifteen or sixteen years ago as " about twelve." 

 The fact recorded by Col. Drummond-Hay (Ibis,' 18G1, p. 397) 

 of a living specimen of A. impennis being seen on the banks of 

 Newfoundland so recently as 1852, and also of another picked up 

 dead the following year in Trinity Bay, goes far to substantiate 

 the statement of the settlers, and, I think, to fix the time at about 

 that date. The settlers generally believe that the pinwing is not 

 extinct, but such testimony cannot be of the slightest value, as they 

 have no reason ichj it should not be so ; neither have I, although 

 I fondly — some will perhaps say foolishly — cherish the same belief, 

 except that vessels have no object in going within several miles of 

 the surf-bound and dangerous islands on the southern and eastern 

 coasts, which are the most likely to hold the great auk at the present 

 day. As Mr. Gurney ('Zoologist,' S.S., p. 1640) appears under 

 the impression that the mummy of the great auk forwarded to the 



• Professor Newton tells me that more than ten years ago he formed 

 the opinion (from the fact that the operation known as "jjinion/??^; " 

 is called " pin-iL'in(jing " in some parts of England) that the name 

 " Penguin," or " Pingwin "' as it is often also spelled, was hut a corrup- 

 tion ot the word Pin win.;, and had been applied to certain sea-fowl 

 which being unable to flj appeared to have been ''pin-winged." Until 

 quite lately informed by me, he did not know that the 2s'ewfoundlaud 

 name of Alca impennis was so pronounced as to give support to his 

 theory. 



