GREAT AUK 
33. Plautus impennis. 29 inches. 
This largest of the auks lived, as far as we have 
authentic record, until 1844, when it became extinct, 
largely through the ageney of man. Although nearly 
twice as long a bird as the Razor-billed Auk, their wings 
were shorter than those of that bird, being only a trifle 
longer than those of the little Dovekie; they were flight- 
less, but the wings were used to good advantage in swim- 
ming. Being in the direct line of travel between the 
old world and the new, sailors, on passing vessels, killed 
countless numbers of them for food, and in some eases 
merely for the love of slaughter. They lived on coasts 
and islands of the Atlantic from Mass., northwards. 
There are about seventy mounted birds preserved, of 
which five or six, as well as some skeletons, are in this 
country. 
Their eggs resemble those of the Razor-bill but, of 
course, are much larger (5.00x 3.00). About 70 of 
these are in existence, six being in this country (Wash- 
‘ington, Phila., and four recently purchased by John E. 
Thayer, of Lancaster, Mass.). 
