io6 Recent Notes on the Great Auk. [Sess. 



went much farther south along the shores of the United States 

 than Massachusetts, as Catesby, in ' The History of Carolina/ 

 App., p. xxxvi, writing early last century, includes the species 

 as an occasional winter visitant to the shores of Carolina. I 

 am indebted to Mr Edward Bidwell of London for the follow- 

 ing extract from an old catalogue. The title runs — 



A Catalogue / of many natural Rarities / with / Great industry, Cost, 

 and thirty years' travel in Foreign Countries / Collected by / Robert 

 Hubert, alias Forges, / Gentleman and Servant to / His Majesty, / and 

 daily to be seen at the / place formerly called the / Musick House, near 

 the / West End of St Pauls' Church, London. Printed by Tho. Ratcliff 

 for the Author. Anno Domini 1665. 



At p. 9 of this catalogue is this description : — 



A strange Sea-Fowle as big as a Goose : it is called the Sea Pinguin. It 

 cannot fly, for his wings are like Pinnes, and is so thick of Feathers that 

 one cannot shoot him, unlesse behind against the growth of his thick Down 

 or Feathers. He is found threescore leagues from the coast of Canada. 



Professor A. Newton of Cambridge, in his paper on " The 

 Garefowl and its Historians," in the ' Natural History Eeview ' 

 for 1865, p. 486, says: " The only place where may possibly 

 linger the last of the American Garefowls is the Virgin Eocks, 

 near the edge of, and midway on the north-west side of, the 

 Great Bank, off the coast of Newfoundland." On the 29th 

 September 1885, Professor Newton told me in conversation 

 that he was then satisfied that the Virgin Piocks could not 

 have been a breeding-place for the Great Auk, as he had been 

 told that these rocks are at times covered with water. Writing 

 upon this subject in ' The Auk,' vol. v., No. 3, July 1888, p. 

 282, Mr Frederic A. Lucas, who evidently is unaware of the 

 changed views now held by Professor Newton, says of the 

 Virgin Eocks, " It will sufiice to say that they lie three and 

 one-half fathoms under water." 



THE FOOD OF THE GREAT AUK. 



At p. 7 2 of ' The Great Auk or Garefowl ; its History, 

 Archfeology, and Eemains,' I refer to the statement made by 

 0. Fabricius about the Great Auk feeding upon the lump-fish 

 {Cydoptcrus lumpus). The following remarks on the same 

 subject, by Mr Frederic A. Lucas, in ' The Auk,' vol. v.. No. 

 3, July 1888, p. 282, are interesting: — 



