THE GREAT AUK. 



Ill 



XII.— Oil the Great Auk {Alca Lnjyennls). By Edward 

 Charlton, Esq., M.D. 



Not many generations ago, and long subsequent to the great 

 era of the invention of printing, some gigantic birds inhabited 

 the southern hemisphere, but have now become utterly extinct. 

 The Dodo has disappeared from its last habitat in the Isle of 

 France, and not even a perfect skeleton has been secured of its 

 remains; while a still larger bird, the Dinornis of New Zea- 

 land, has been in existence, perhaps, within the memory of 

 persons yet living, or, at all events, individuals of the species 

 survived until very recent times. 



In the far north, in our own days, a similar fate threatens 

 the bird we are about to speak of, though we rejoice to say it 

 cannot be considered as entirely extinct. The destruction of 

 the Dodo was, doubtless, owing to the great facility with which 

 that bird was captured, and to the excellence of its flesh for the 

 table ; and the latter cause, no doubt, influenced the inhabitants 

 of New Zealand when they hunted down the Dinornis to its 

 utter extirpation. 



Not only is the Great A.uk a timid, stupid, and gregarious 

 bird, especially in the breeding season, but its flesh was 

 anxiously sought for by the earlier navigators, as superior to 

 that of all others of its tribe. We do not, however, suppose 

 that those rough mariners were very particular in their diet. 

 Any fresh meat would taste exquisitely, after weeks and months 

 of privation on salted provisions; and even at the present day, 

 the inhabitants of Northern Europe, of Iceland and of the 

 Faroe Islands, maintain that the Guillemot and the Razor-bill 

 are culinary delicacies of a superior description. 



Many of the modern writers on Ornithology have come to the 

 conclusion that the Great Auk is now really an extinct species. 

 We hope, however, to show that it is not, as yet, entirely 

 extirpated, though, at the same time, we confess our inability 

 to point out its precise habitat. At long intervals, sometimes 

 of ten or fifteen years, a few individuals of this species have 



