30 THE AUKS 



offspring on its back out to sea, it might well, on occasions, adopt the 

 same method in carrying it from the cliff to the sea. 



That the young travel immense distances away from their natal 

 cliffs is shown by the fact that a " guillemot marked as a newly hatched 

 chick on the Aberdeenshire cliffs on July 11, 1910, was shot on 

 November 29, 1910, a dozen miles north of Gothenburg, Sweden. 

 This bird was thus four and a half months old when it was killed, 

 more than 500 miles due east of its birthplace." 1 



The old continue to frequent the cliffs till August, when they 

 leave for the winter, to lead a roaming life on the open sea. Their 

 chief enemies at this time are heavy gales, which have the effect of 

 driving away the fish, and so rendering the birds less capable of 

 battling with wind and waves. Many are driven ashore, the beach 

 being sometimes strewn with their bodies for miles. It is remarkable 

 that, when amid the breakers, they make no attempt to escape by 

 flight, but go on diving through the incoming waves until exhausted, 

 when they are ruthlessly tossed ashore to feed the Gulls and Crows. 2 



THE GREAT-AUK 

 [R C. R JOURDAIN] 



The opportunities of studying the life-history of this species have 

 passed away never to return, for since 1844 no living specimen has 

 been seen. The widespread but erroneous idea that it was an 

 Arctic form, whereas in reality it inhabited the temperate North 

 Atlantic, was responsible for vague surmises that in some unexplored 

 part of the Arctic seas it might still survive. However, the interest 

 which its disappearance from our fauna has added to the study of its 



1 Circular of the Aberdeen University Bird Migration Inquiry. "Bird-marking," March 1, 

 1911 (J. A. and A. L. Thomson). 



* Saxby, Birds of Shetland, p. 285 ; Ussher, Birds of Ireland, p. 356 ; Zoologist, 1872, 2994, 

 3023; Field, 1863, 392; Yarrell, British Birds, iv. 55 (4th edit.); Dresser, Birds of Europe, viii., 

 article " Razorbill." 



