468 



THE DIVING JJIIIDS — PYGOPODES. 



Total leiij,'tli, about 20.00 to 30.00 inches ; uxtent, 27.25 (Auduhon); wiii},'s, 5."r) ; tail, about 

 3.(X); bill aloii;.,' {,'"l"'i 4.25-4.50 ; lulineii, 3.15-3.50; greatest depth of closed bill, about 1.50; 

 tarsus, I.OO; iiii<l(llu toe with ihiw, 3.25. 



We have seen no description of this species in young or winter plumage ; the latter, however, 



judging from the seasonal changes in Alca tarda and other members of the faiuily, would doubtless 

 have the under side of tlie head white, the maxilla destitute of the basal lamina, and perhaps tlie 

 loral white patch .ibsent. 



The rosearches of the late Mr. John Wolloy into the history of this probably 

 extinct species, as presented by Professor Alfred Newton (" Ibis," 1861, pp. 374-399), 

 liave thrown much light upon their elosing existence in Iceland, cand have i)reserved 

 the records of many interesting facts that would otherwise have passed into oblivion. 

 This author calls attention to the very general misconception that has prevailed, to 

 the effect that the Great Auk was a bird of the Far North, and belonged to Volar 

 Itegions. This error — as he supposes — originated in the inadvertence of naturalists, 

 who have confounded localities quite distinct and remote from one another. There 

 is hardly a single reliable instance on record of the capture of the Great Auk within 

 the limits of the Arctic circle. Even the statement, quoted by Reinhardt, that this 

 bird has been taken on Pisco Island (" Ibis," 1861, p. lA) is not free from doubt, 

 and possibly it may have been confounded with the specimen obtained .'it Fiskernaes 

 in 1815 ; and I'rofessor Newton is evidently iiudined to the belief that there is no 

 trustworthy evidence that this bird ever existed within the Arctic circle. 



Mr. WoUey could find no traces of the recent presence of the Great Auk about 

 Iceland, except among u small chain of volcanic islets, known as the Fuglasker, 

 lying off the southwestern point of that island. These islets are from thirteen to 

 thirty miles distant from the shore, widely separated from each other, and, owing to 



