BIRDS. 



437 



Of the true auks, the great auk is, without doubt, the most celebrated. 

 We have already seen that some birds have been exterminated by the hand 

 of man, and in the subsequent pages others will be mentioned, and yet one 

 in thinking of extinct birds invariably brings up first the large, clumsy 





Fig. 368. — Great auk (Plmttus impennis). 



bird of the northern Atlantic shores. It was a large form, standing thirty 

 inches high, but possessed no especial beauty, its colors being a brownish 

 black and white. The whole interest surrounding it centres in its fate. 

 A hundred years ago these birds were abundant ; to-day, in all probability, 

 not a single individual is alive. It formerly extended south as far as Mas- 



