GREAT AUK. *229 



Kilda, in 1697, by M. Martin, Gentleman, we have 

 this account, " The sea fowls are, first, the Gair- 

 fowl, being the stateliest, as well as the largest, of 

 all the fowls here, and above the size of a solan 

 goose, of a black colour, red about the eyes, a large 

 white spot under each eye, a long broad bill ; stands 

 stately, his whole body erected ; his wings short ; 

 he flyeth not at all ; lays his egg upon the bare 

 rock, which, if taken away, he lays no more for that 

 year ; he is palmipes, or web-footed ; and has the 

 hatching-spot upon his breast, i. 0., a bare spot, 

 from which the feathers have fallen off with the 

 heat in hatching ; his egg is twice as big as that of 

 a solan goose, and is variously spotted, black, green, 

 and dark ; he comes, without regard to any wind, 

 appears the 1st of May, and goes away about the 

 middle of June." In Northern Europe and America 

 it appears to be equally rare, none of those gentle- 

 men who have lately visited the former having met 

 with it. It was not obtained on the arctic expeditions ; 

 Mr. Audubon did not meet with it in Labrador, and 

 in fact, procured comparatively little authentic in- 

 formation regarding it. 



The Great Auk seems incident to the same 

 changes which will be described in the better known 

 Razor-bill. The length of the bird, so far as we can 

 make out from descriptions, is from thirty inches 

 to three feet ; the bill, four inches long, is black, 

 with transverse furrows, the grooves white; in 

 front and around the eyes is a large oval patch of 

 white ; the other parts of the head, the neck, back. 



