BIRDS AND LIGHTHOUSES. 289 



portion of the island, alive with Puffins : here, there, 

 and everywhere are they dotted. 



All the evidence we obtained here concerning the 

 Greater Shearwater was communicated by an old 

 cliff-climber and egg-taker. This man was well 

 acquainted with the seafowl of the islands. He 

 accurately described the Manx Shearwater and its 

 habits of remaining at sea by day and lying hid till 

 dark. He also, unprompted, remarked, " There is, 

 however, a bird of the same kind, twice as large, 

 that has always been very scarce, but, when search- 

 ing for the common sort, I have taken out of a hole 

 the larger, together with the eggs, which are of 

 much greater size. I find perhaps one or two only 

 of these latter every year, and some years none 

 at all." 



Whilst alluding to rare seafowl I may state that 

 I have taken great pains to sketch and describe 

 THE GREAT AUK to fishermen and light-keepers, who 

 have assured me that they know the bird, and have 

 met with it on the north coast of Ireland. It was 

 very large, they said, and swam and dived with 

 wonderful ease, and could not fly. Several speci- 

 mens, however, of the bird described having been 

 obtained and sent to me, invariably proved to be 

 the Great Northern Diver. The Great Auk is, I 

 fear, a thing of the past, and worth his weight in 

 gold if procured. The only properly authenticated 

 specimen ever procured in Ireland is the one now 

 in the University Museum, Dublin. 



When looking over Doctor Burkitt's collection, 

 in Waterford, a short time since, he assured me 

 that Thompson was in error when he stated, in his 



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