THE GREAT AUK. 



741 



muddy brown hue. Tlie mother-bird always covers her eggs with leaves and aquatic algse 

 before leaving them. The bird has a curious habit of biuldiug a kind of supplementary 

 nest, in wliich it sits until it has completed the structure in which the eggs are to be laid. 

 The young soon take to the water, and are, on their first introduction to the waves, nearly 

 as adroit as their parents. 



The food of the Dabchick consists of insects, molluscs, little fish, and the smaller 

 crustaceans. 



In its summer plumage the 

 head, neck, and upper portions of 



the body are dark brown, except -^-^ ^ — ^ 



the secondaries, which are white. 

 The sides of the face are warm 

 chestnut, and the imder surface 

 is greyish white. In the winter 

 the upper part of the body is 

 chocolate-brown, and some of the 

 primaries are white, the chin is 

 white, the front of the neck ashen 

 brown, and the under surface 

 greyish wliite. The total length 

 of the Dabcliick rather exceeds 

 nine inches. 



The sub-family of the Alcina? 

 or Auks has several British re- 

 presentatives, among which the 

 Great Auk is the rarest. 



This bird, formerly to be found 

 in several parts of Northern Europe, 

 in Labrador, and very rarely in 

 the British Isles, has not been 

 observed for many years, and is 

 thought to be as comj)letely ex- 

 tinct as the Dodo. Almost, the 

 last living specimens known were 

 seen in the Orkneys, and were 

 quite familiar to the inhabitants 

 under the name of the King and 

 Queen of the Auks. So agile is (or 

 was) this bird in the water, that 

 Mr. Bullock chased the male for 

 several hours without being able 

 to get within gunshot, although 

 he was in a boat manned by six 

 rowers. After his departure the 

 bird was shot and sent to the 

 British Museum. The female had 

 been killed just before his arrival. 



The egg of this bird is laid close to the water's edge, and is a very large one, marked 

 after a rather curious fashion, hereafter to be described. 



One of these birds was caught by a hook, and the story is told by Audubon. 

 " Mr. Henry Havell, brother of my engraver, when on his passage from New York to 

 England, hooked a Great Auk on the banks of Newfoundland in extremely boisterous 

 weather. On being hauled on board it was left at liberty on the deck. It walked very 

 awkwardly, often tumbling over, bit every one within reach of its powerfid bill, and 

 refused food of aU kinds. After continuing several days on board, it was restored to its 



GREAT AUK.— ^ (en impennii. 



