GREAT AUK. H^ 



inhabitants of Ireland." Two other specimens were taken 

 near the entrance of Waterford Harbour in May, 1834. 

 Three other instances of the capture of the Great Auk have 

 been recorded by Thompson, but confirmatory evidence is 

 lacking. 



Range outside the British Islands. Iceland seems to have 

 been the last known resort of the present species, which 

 appears at no time to have been an Arctic bird. Its bones 

 have also been discovered in the kitchen-middens of Den- 

 mark, and the remains of the species discovered on Funk 

 Island, off Newfoundland, have been considerable. 



Habits. The scanty notes on the habits of the Great Auk 

 are derived from the accounts of early voyagers. Although 

 incapable of flight, its diving powers are admitted to have 

 been extraordinary. Like other flightless birds, it seems to 

 have been stupidly tame in its disposition, and this fact alone 

 accounts for its rapid extermination. The bird captured off 

 Waterford actually approached the boat for food, and was 

 apparently in a starving condition. " For some days after its 

 capture it ate greedily of potatoes mashed in milk. After 

 keeping it for ten days, it was sold to Mr. Davis, who sent it 

 to Mr. Gough, of Horetown, co. Wexford. Singularly, for 

 about three weeks after its transference to its new home, it 

 was not known to eat anything. Mr. Gough, fearing it would 

 succumb, caused potatoes and milk to be forced down its 

 throat, and from that time it ate voraciously until within a day 

 or two of its death. It died a little over four months after its 

 capture. When in Mr. Cough's possession, its principal food 

 was trout and other fresh-water fish, which it seemed to prefer 

 to fish from the sea. It swallowed the fish entire. (Parkin, 

 " The Great Auk or Gare-fowl," p. 6, 1894.) 



Nest. None, the single egg being laid on a rock. 



Eggs. One. The eggs of the Great Auk may be described 

 as those of a gigantic Razor-bill, going through, the same kind 

 of varieties as in the latter species, but, of course, greatly 

 exceeding the Razor-bill's egg in size. The number of Great 

 Auk's eggs in various museums and private collections is 

 seventy-one, as I am informed by Mr. Edward Bidwell, who 

 has personally examined nearly all the specimens. 



