310 BRITISH BIRDS. 



the chief deposit of these was at a short distance outside 

 the main wall to the left of the entrance. This was 

 evidently the midden-heap, and would represent exactly 

 the place where refuse would accumulate if thrown out of 

 the doorway. The main constituents of the midden were 

 vast numbers of shells of the common limpet, but many 

 mammalian bones were found, and a few that could be 

 definitely assigned to certain species of birds. There were 

 among" them many small fragments which were, unfor- 

 tunately, too small to identify. The best of the fragments 

 Mr. Graeme kindly forwarded to me, and I was able to 

 identify remains of the Horse, Ox (Bos longifrons) , Red 

 Deer, Sheep, Goat and Pig amongst the mammalia. 



The bird remains consisted of the following : — 



Gannet [Sulci bassana) . A complete cranium with upper 

 and lower mandibles, a left coracoid and part of a 

 radius. 



Cormorant (^Phcdacrocorax carho). A right tibia and a 

 right radius. 



Shag [Phalacrocorax graculus). An ulna. 



Great Northern Diver {Golymhus glacialis). A left 

 femur and tibia. 



Whooper (Gygnus musicus^. A tibia. 



Gull {Larus sp. 9) . The size of a Herring-Gull ; the 

 upper and lower mandibles. 



Shearwater {Puffinus sp. ?). Part of an ulna. 



Gare Fowl (Aha impennis). The lower half of a tibia. 



With the exception of the last mentioned, all the birds 

 are in their season more or less numerous at the present 

 day, and there is evidence that at any rate up till quite 

 recent times the Manx Shearwater was an article of diet, 

 and even a delicacy (c/. A Fauna of the Orkney Islands, 

 pp. 242, 243). 



The chief interest of these remains lies naturally in the 

 single bone of the Great Auk, remains of which have 

 never, so far as I am aware, been found before on the 

 Orkney mainland, though it is not unlikely to occur in any 

 of these ancient dwellings. Buckley and Harvie-Brown 



