in Iceland respecting the Gare-fowl. 375 



visits to Christiania and Copenhagen the following year, when he 

 first heard of the discoveries of the late Herr Peter Stuvitz and 

 Professor Steenstrup, and besides made the personal acquaint- 

 ance of the last-mentioned illustrious naturalist, who soon after 

 published so valuable a contribution to this bird^s history*. 



In this paper, therefore, I do not mean to refer much to the 



bird^s appearance in other localities, except in one instance to 



correct a very prevalent misapprehension. But, on the other 



hand, I do not claim entire novelty for several of the statements 



I have to make. Some of them have already found their way 



into one book or another — sometimes rightly reported, sometimes 



wrongly. Nor do I profess to be sure that the account I have 



to give is always the true one. It must be remembered that the 



results here recorded are the main points of evidence deduced 



from many authorities, and offered by nearly one hundred 



living witnesses ; and though I do not doubt that the greater 



number of these latter are persons of eminently truthful habit 



(for such is the natural characteristic of the Icelander), yet some 



few there are who may have wilfully told falsehoods. Nor 



should it be forgotten that it is, humanly speaking, impossible for 



any two persons, however honestly disposed, to give identically 



the same version of the same events, though most generally in 



such cases the variations will be unimportant. Add to this that 



much of the evidence, though written down at the time by Mr. 



Wolley (whose note-books I have carefully consulted) in a most 



painstaking manner, had to pass through an interpreter ; and, 



as nearly all of it referred to a period of many years ago, it will 



not be surprising if some inaccuracies have crept in. 



The particular misconception to which I wish to draw especial 

 attention is, that the Great Auk is, or was, a bird of the far 

 North — indeed, of the Polar regions. That such an opinion 

 prevails, one has only to refer to authorities generally received by 

 ornithologists of all countries. Professor Steenstrup, in the 

 paper to which I have alluded, has conclusively shown it to be 

 unfounded, without, however, having been able to trace the error 

 satisfactorily to its source. For myself, I imagine it to have ori- 



* Videnskabelige Meddelser for Aaret 1855. Kjobenhavn. 1856-1857, 

 pp. 3ii-116. 



