^82 Hardy on the Great Auk. [October 



what resembling this, the French would have adopted the Indian 

 name already applied to it, instead of transferring this. But 

 there are other reasons why Apponath can refer to the Great Auk 

 only. Later, we find that the bird had French names given it, 

 and Apponath was retained only as a synonym. Frere Gabriel 

 Sagard Theodat, in his 'Gi^and Voyage du Fays des Hurons' 

 (Paris, 1633), speaks of the bird as Guillaume, Tangeux, or Ap- 

 ponath, stating that the latter is the Indian name for it. He 

 describes this bird as being "large as a goose," "black and 

 white," "with a short tail and little wings." Unquestionably, 

 this is the Great Auk, and his use of the word Apponath is such 

 that it must have been applied to this bird only. Aside from 

 this, there is another reason, partly negative, but having great 

 weight with those best acquainted with the zoological observa- 

 tions of this age, why the term Apponath could not have in- 

 cluded the Razor-bills. There is no evidence, I think, that the 

 French voyagers ever noticed the difference between the Razor- 

 bills and the Murres ; I am not aware that any of the early 

 English observers made the distinction. The points most 

 important in scientific classification were passed by unnoticed, 

 differences of size, color and habit forming the basis of their dis- 

 tinctions. To them, birds as near alike in size, figure, habits 

 and general coloration, as the Murres and Razor-bills, would be 

 regarded as one and the same. It is almost a certainty that the 

 Godels (the Godetz of Cartier, Godets and Godes of Lescarbot) 

 which Sagard describes as similar to the Apponath but smaller, 

 include both the Murres and Razor-bills. Another reason for the 

 term Apponath not referring to the Razor-bill is that it is every- 

 where spoken of as being fat, "excessivement gras." Murres 

 and Razor-bills, so far as my personal experience goes with 

 specimens killed in winter, are, contrariwise, excessively lean, 

 being shaped somewhat like a toy Noah's Ark. But the Ap- 

 ponath, on the other hand, is invariably described as fat and 

 oily ; and the term Tangeux which Sagard says was the sailor's 

 name for the Guillaume or Apponath, although not in any 

 dictionary which I have consulted, seems to be equivalent to 

 "lumpers," and to imply that the birds were short and fat. 

 What Guillaume signifies, not even Trevoux hints at. John 

 Josselyn in his 'New England's Rarities Discovered,' etc. (Lon- 

 don, 1672), describing the Wobble, which is undoubtedly the 



