THE MUSEUM. 



A Monthly Magazine Devoted to Research in Natural Science. 



Vol. I. 



ALBION, N. Y., SEP. 15. 1895. 



No. [ I 



The Gr-at Auk- 



{A lea inipciuiis.^ 



The Great Auk, or Garefowl [A lea 

 iiiipcnuis), was the largest member of 

 the Auk famil)', distinguished not only 

 by its si^e, but by its iiighllessness, en- 

 joying the proud distinction of being 

 the sole bird in the northern hemis- 

 phere incapable of flight. The name 

 by which the Great Auk was originally 

 and commonly known in Amsrica, was 

 Penguin, and the southern birds, now 

 known by that title, did not receive 

 this appellation until many years af- 

 ter. Garefowl is of Scandinavian ori- 

 gin, and comes to us by way of west- 

 ern Scotland. 



In color the Great Auk most resem- 

 bles its lesser relative, the Razorbill, 

 the head, neck, and back being black, 

 and the upper parts white. A pecu- 

 liar mark of the bird was a great white 

 spot in front of the eye, one old writ- 

 er with a greater love of the marvel- 

 ous than the truthfulness stating that 

 this spot was found on the right side 

 only. The wings, although far too 

 small to sustain the bird in the air, 

 formed an admirable pair of oars, the 

 Great Auk being a most expert swimmer 

 and diver, and performing even longer 

 migrations than many of its relatives 

 that were endowed with the power of 

 flight. Many, possibly all, of the Auk 

 family use their wings quite as much as 

 their feet for propulsion under water, 

 and they may litterally be said to fly be- 

 neath the sea as well as over it. It 

 has been noted that the inability of 



the Great Auk to fly was due to lack 

 of development of the bones of the 

 forearm and hand, the humerous be- 

 ing proportionately as long as in other 

 Auks. This modification of structure 

 w.is directly correlated with the aquat- 

 ic habits of the Garefowl, for the resis- 

 tance of water being vastly greater 

 than that of air, a wing especially 

 adapted for subaquatic flight would de- 

 mand less service and more power 

 than a wing formed for aeriel locomo- 

 tion. In the case of the Great Auk 

 this demand was made by shortening 

 the greater portion of the wing, while 

 other birds that use their wings in div- 

 ing obtain as far as possible the same 

 result by only partially opening their 

 wings. 



The Great Auk was confined to the 

 North Atlantic, ranging on the Euro- 

 pean side from Iceland to the bay of 

 Biscay, and on the American from 

 Greenland to Virginia, these localities 

 being the extreme limits of the bird's 

 migrations. 



Greenland was the habitat of the 

 Garefowl to a very great extent, and the 

 same may be said of the coast of Nor- 

 way, while the southern limits given 

 above were reached only during the 

 winter migrations of the bird. The 

 positively known breeding-places were 

 few in number, those where the bird 

 bred abundantly, being the Garefowl 

 Skerries off the coast of Iceland and 

 Funk Island on the Newfoundland 

 coast. These islands, or more proper- 

 ly islets, were very similar in their gen- 



