482 



it appears to have bred ; one of these the G-eirfugla-sker 

 near Reykjanes disappeared during a submarine eruption 

 in 1830, after the colony on it had been nearly extirpated ; 

 Eldey or the Meal-sack was systematically robbed until the 

 last two birds were taken alive in June 1844 ; and there 

 can now be no hope that a remnant may exist on the surf- 

 encircled Geirfugla-drangr." 



Systematic invasions were made annually on the Great 

 Auk between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries off 

 the North American coasts, especially those of Newfound- 

 land where the bird was extremely plentiful. 1 



Only some forty years after the American Continent was 

 discovered, British as well as French traders visited the 

 shores of Newfoundland, " driving the helpless and hapless 

 birds on sails or planks into a boat ' as many as shall lade 

 her' and salting them for provision." Such slaughter was 

 indulged in until the close of the eighteenth century. "In 

 1819, Anspach reported their entire disappearance, but it 

 is possible that some few yet lingered " (Newton). 2 



COMMON GUILLEMOT. Una troile (Linnaeus). 



Coloured Figures. Gould, ' Birds of Great Britain,' vol. v, pi. 

 48; Dresser, 'Birds of Europe,' vol. viii, pi. 621 ; Lilford, 

 ' Coloured Figures,' vol. vi, pi. 38 ; Booth, ' Kough Notes,' 

 vol. iii, pis. 23, 24. 



The swarms of Common Guillemots which resort to the 

 stupendous cliffs of the British coasts in spring and summer, 

 and which in most situations outnumber the other members 



1 It would appear that in Greenland the bird became very rare at a 

 comparatively early date and as far back as 300 years ago was known 

 only as a straggler. 



2 On Funk Island, their last resort, large numbers of bones and even 

 mummified remains have been collected. The stone enclosures or 

 * pounds ' into which the victims were driven before being slaughtered 

 have also been found and described by several travellers long after the 

 birds ceased to exist. 



Mr. Ussher in his article, ' The Great Auk. Once An Irish Bird ' 

 (' Irish Naturalist,' 1899, pp. 1-3), embodies an extract from Lady Blake's 

 article, published in the ' Victoria Quarterly ' for August, 1889, which 

 details an account of the brutal treatment to which these unfortunate 

 birds were subjected. 



