332 The Great Auk. [Sess. 



was clone by him, though I have gone over it for my own satisfaction. I 

 congratulate you on possessing remains of at least two Great Auks, for you 

 will notice that the two coracoids are of the same side. I hope you will 

 duly record the occurrence of Alca impennis. Read in the light of these 

 relics, Mr Davis's famous bird of 1834 must have been visiting the home of 

 his forefathers. 



" On the 14th June, accompanied by Mr Percy Manning, I 

 revisited the kitchen-middens, and we picked up some addi- 

 tional birds' bones, which I submitted to Dr Gadow, who again 

 kindly determined them. They contained a humerus, tibia, 

 and metatarsus of Great Auk." 



Northern Ireland. — Mr W. J. Knowles of Ballymena, writing 

 me on 3rd November 1897, says: "I think it was since I 

 wrote you last that I was requested to show the bones in my 

 possession to Professor Newton of Magdalene College, Cam- 

 bridge. I sent them as requested, and he confirmed previous 

 reports both regarding identification and the probable number 

 of individuals represented by the bones in question. In one 

 case I had found a humerus partially bared and the other 

 smaller bones closely connected. These latter, with the 

 humerus, I kept together, and they were found to be ulna, 

 radius, metacarpus, and phalanges — in fact, the whole bones 

 of one wing. These I am still keeping in a small box by 

 themselves. From becoming acquainted in this way with the 

 appearance of an ulna, I have since found another ulna among 

 some other bones." 



Mr W. J. Knowles, writing me on 22nd March 1898, says : 

 " I was down for two days at Whitepark Bay, and obtained 

 the following bones of the Great Auk — broken humerus, two 

 coracoids, one scapula. Except the humerus, all are in good 

 and perfect condition. I also found lately among the bones I 

 formerly obtained from Whitepark Bay a tibia of the Great 

 Auk." 



Mr W. J. Knowles, in answer to my inquiries, again wrote 

 me on 30th May 1898 : " The hut sites at Whitepark Bay are 

 situated on the top of a bank of sand close to the sea, about 

 30 feet above high-water mark. I suppose there are twenty 

 to thirty hut sites in all. It was by digging in the old surface, 

 which is distinguished by its blackness and shells, broken 

 bones and flint, that I got the first bones of the Greak Auk. 



