GA RE-FOWL 305 



place of the Kazor-bill's thin white line, while the. bill itself bore 

 eight or more deep transverse grooves instead of the smaller 

 number and the ivory-like mark possessed by the species last 

 named. Otherwise the coloration Avas similar in both, and there 

 is satisfactory evidence that the Gare-fowl's winter-plumage dif- 

 fered from that of the breeding-season just as is ordinarily the case 

 in other members of the Family AlcicL'B to which it belongs. The 

 most striking characteristic of the Gare-fowl, however, Avas the 

 comparatively abortive condition of its Avings, the distal portions 

 of Avhich, though the bird was just about tAvice the linear dimen- 

 sions of the Eazor-bill, Avere almost exactly of the same size as in 

 that species — proving, if more direct evidence Avere Avanting, its 

 inability to fly. 



The most prevalent misconception concerning the Gare-foAvl is 

 one which has been repeated so often, and in books of such gener- 

 ally good repute and AAnde dispersal, that a successful refutation 

 seems almost hopeless. This is the notion that it Avas a bird 

 possessing a very high northern range, and consecjuently to be 

 looked for by Arctic explorers. Hoav this error arose Avould take 

 too long to tell, but the fact remains indisputable that, setting 

 aside general assertions resting on no evidence Avorthy of attention, 

 there is but a single record deserving any credit at all ^ of a single 

 example of the species having been observed Avithin the Arctic 

 Circle, and this, according to the late Prof. J. T. Keinhardt, Avho 

 had the best means of ascertaining the truth, is open to grave 

 doubt.^ It is clear that the older ornitholosrists let their imasina- 

 tion get the better of their knowledge or their judgment, and 

 their statements have been blindly repeated by most of their 

 successors. Another error which, if not so Avidely spread, is at 

 least as serious, since Sir K. OAven {Encycl. Brit. ed. 8, xAai. p. 176 ; 

 Falxontology, p. 400) unhappily gave it countenance, is that this 

 Ijird "has not been specially hunted doAvn like the dodo and 

 dinornis, but by degrees has become more scarce." Noaa^, if any 

 reliance can be placed upon the testimony of former observers, the 

 lirst part of this statement is absolutely untrue. Of the DODO we 

 knoAv that the mode of its extinction is open to conjecture, a strong 

 suspicion existing that though indirectly due to man's acts it was 

 accomplished by his thoughtless agents. The extinction of the 

 Dinornis (Moa) lies beyond the range of recorded history, and 

 CAddence that the Avhole population of Moas was done to death by 



^ I cannot attach importance to the later statements of Herr L. Brodtkorb 

 {Mitth. Orji. Ver. Wien, 1884, pp. 67-69). His story Avas sifted nearly 30 years 

 before by the late Mr. WoUey. 



^ The specimen is in the Musenm of Copenhagen ; the doubt lies as to the 

 locality where it was obtained, whether at Disco, which is within, or at 

 Fiskernas, which is without, the Arctic Circle. 



20 



