478 



oblique furrows eight or more in number which meet at 

 the edges. 



FEET. Black, short, and placed very far back. 



IEIDES. Dark brown. 



AVERAGE MEASUREMENTS. 



TOTAL LENGTH 32 in. 



WING 4-25 



BEAK 3'5 ,, 



TARSOMETATARSUS 2 



EGG ... ... 4'9 X 2'7 in. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE GREAT AUK IN THE MUSEUM OF ZOOLOGY, 

 DUBLIN UNIVERSITY. 



PLATE LI., FIGS. 1, 2. PLATE LIL, FIGS. 1, 2. 



Though rather poor in plumage, this specimen is 

 particularly interesting, as it claims to be the only known 

 mounted example in immature plumage in existence. The 

 state of captivity to which the bird was subjected for some 

 months prior to its death, was evidently not conducive to 

 keeping the plumage in good condition, and it may also be 

 remarked that the moulting period was passed through in 

 captivity. 



Top of head, dark brown ; back and sides of head 

 behind the eye, lighter brown ; oval patch in front of eye, 

 white, mottled with brown ; lower part of face, impure 

 white, mottled with brown ; chin, mottled dark brown and 

 white, brown predominating ; middle line of throat, chiefly 

 white ; sides of throat, dappled with white and brown, like 

 the lower part of the face ; lower throat, breast, abdomen, 

 and under tail-coverts, dirty white ; back of neck, mid-back, 

 and lower back, brown, the last darker in shade, merging 

 into the blackish-brown colour of the rump and upper tail- 

 coverts ; tail-feathers, brownish, frayed and broken, their 

 basal three-fourths only being preserved ; thighs show some 

 brown feathers ; scapulars and inner secondaries, blackish, 

 and only faintly glossed ; outer secondaries, brownish, edged 

 with white, forming a wing-bar ; primaries, light mouse- 

 brown, many of them broken, and with frayed edges ; lesser 

 wing-coverts, greyish-brown, edged with deeper brown ; 



