o 



'•88 Mr. A. Newton on Mr. J. Wolley's Researches 



dead) and his son SigurSr, who related the circuoistance to us. 

 This witness is certain that it was about the beginning of July 

 of the same year as that of Faber's visit. They sold the skins, 

 which our informant himself took off, commencing the operation 

 by making a hole transversely across between the legs, as he 

 would do in the case of a quadruped. They afterwards ate the 

 bodies, and sold the skins to the A'sgrimur before mentioned*. 

 The occurrence of so many examples of this bird nearly in the 

 same locality may perhaps be accounted for by the fact that 

 the tide runs in very strongly round Skagen, and sets along 

 Holmsbergf. The Auks^ after fishing on that side of the pro- 

 montory, may have found themselves unable to make head 

 against the current, and so have betaken themselves to the shore. 

 I may here observe that we failed to gather any further infor- 

 mation respecting a bird said by Dr. Kjserbolling (Danmark's 

 Fugle, p. 415) to have been killed in 1818 on a place in South 

 Iceland, where many had been observed ; but Etatsraad lleinhardt 

 records [loc. cit.) the death of one in 1828, and I think the Doctor 

 is altogether mistaken in the assertion that " Apothecary Mech- 

 lenburg of Flensborg possesses a pair which were killed on the 

 Gare-fowl skerries in 1829, where they were courageously de- 

 fending their two eggs.'' But of this last supposed capture I 

 shall say m(n-e presently. 



* The Icelandic skins of Foxes (Canis la ff opus) are all flayed in the way 

 above described. I cannot help suggesting that these may have been the 

 two Great Auks' skins stated by the late Etatsraad Pvcinhardt {loc. cit.) 

 as being received in 1823 from Oerebakke (Eyrarbakki), though they were 

 said to have been killed there in that year by a boy with a stick. Faber, 

 when in the district, lived for some weeks in A'sgrimur's house, who was 

 ])robably thus aware that he wanted them. On leaving it he went in the 

 direction of Kyrarbakki, on July 9th he was five miles to the east of Ke- 

 blavik, and in the end of that month and in the next was on the West- 

 n an Islands (Prodr. pp. 38 & 49). Some persons we saw declared that he 

 had three specimens, but ])e himself says somewhere (I think in the ' Isis ') 

 that he never procured any of this species. Possibly, therefore, they were 

 sent after him to Kyrarbakki, and thence some two years afterwards to the 

 Museum at Copenhagen. 



t We obtained information respecting the tides from a manuscript ac- 

 count of Gulbringe-sysla, written about 1784, by the then Land-foged 

 Skule Magnusen, which was kindly lent to Mr. WoUey, and the account 

 was confirmed by the statements made to us by fishermen. 



