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THE GREAT AUK, 

 Alca impennis. 



PLATE XVI. 



Alca impennis, Linn. Penguin brachiptere, Temm. Great 

 Auk of British authors. 



THE king and queen of the Auks, as the sexes of 

 this bird are called by the northern islanders, have 

 some claim to the title, whether we regard their 

 ample size or extreme rarity ; and, we believe there 

 is no bird in more request by the British, or even 

 general collector, or one which would bring a larger 

 price in the ornithological market. Very few spe- 

 cimens have been obtained or seen ; that in the Bri- 

 tish Museum and long unique as a British bird, was 

 procured for Mr. Bullock, near Papa Westra; some 

 one or two specimens have been seen, one obtained 

 by Mr. Stevenson off St. Kilda, which afterwards, 

 we believe, escaped; two are recorded as picked up 

 in England, but evidently under peculiar circum- 

 stances; and one is mentioned by Mr. Thompson 

 to have been taken in 1834, off the coast of Water- 

 ford, in Ireland. In the old account of a voyage to St. 



