718 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



The Arctic Terns were a veritable nuisance, hovering in a cloud over 

 our heads, screaming harshly, and swooping down almost on our heads, 

 demonstrations largely due to the presence of their nests. It was curi- 

 ous to witness the behavior of the young Terns, who, at our approach, 

 would either squat close to the ground or else creep up to some tuft of 

 grass or cranny of tne rock, into which they would thrust their heads 

 and apparently seem to consider themselves as out of sight. 



Puffins are very numerous; their burrows honeycomb the northern 

 slope, where the soil is deepest, and their quaint proprietors, perched 

 upon blocks of stone, gravely inspected all our movements. Not uutil 

 toward sunset, however, was the real abundance of Puffins manifest, 

 but at that time they came flocking home from distant fishing-grounds, 

 gathering along the precipitous eastern part of the island in great 

 numbers. 



The height of Funk Island is given as 4G feet, but it certainly seems 

 much higher, whether viewed from the sea or from the highest part of 

 the islet. It is about half a mile long, possibly a little more, and about 

 a quarter of a mile wide, the greatest length being from east-southeast 

 to west-northwest. The eastern and southwestern portions are precipi- 

 tous, but on the north and northwest the rock slopes into the sea, and 

 here the Great Auks must have landed, choosing their side according 

 to the wind, but having a rough time of it at best. The rock itself 

 is a coarse-grained feldspathic granite, traversed by two faults, which 

 divide the island into three portions of unequal extent. The north- 

 eastern is bare rock, the central portion has a little vegetation here and 

 there, while a great part of the southwestern swell, which comprises 

 the larger pare of the island, is covered with vegetation and plentifully 

 strewn with blocks of granite weathered off from the bed-rock. The 

 process of weathering can be seen very well on parts of the middle 

 division of the island and at the eastern end, where the rock in places 

 forms curious thin ledges that in time will break into slabs. Along the 

 line of the southernmost fault is a considerable depression, into which 

 considerable water drains, forming pools of brackish water and little 

 patches of marsh. The western portion alone was inhabited by the 

 Great Auk, this only being accessible to the flightless fowl, which was 

 prevented by the character of the rock from either lauding on the east- 

 ern end or reaching it after having landed elsewhere. 



The former breeding grounds of Alcaimpennis are pretty well mapped 

 out by vegetation which has sprung up since the extermination of the 

 Great Auk, and the density of which bears a direct relation to the abun- 

 dance of buried remains. (Plate CVI.) 



The soil has been formed partly during the occupancy of the Auk 

 and partly since its extinction, the older portion consisting very largely 

 of fragments of egg-shells mixed with granite pebbles. This stratum is 

 from two inches to nearly a foot in thickness, and is overlaid by a stratum 

 of decomposed Auks and decayed vegetation, above which is a thin 

 turf of matted roots. 



