y: 



f 



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Is 



134 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



is found in the old treatises written in Latin, and tlie change to alca is of course imma- 

 terial. The meaning of tiie word is in question. The form awk (wliich wc observe some 

 late English scholars use) might suggest a relationsliip vvitii iticLward, in view of these 

 ungainly fowl ; but awkward means simply left-iianded. tiuite probably alL is related, 

 and not distantly, to elk, the bird and the beast being the largest, or most notable, or 

 most prevailing animals of thuir respective kinds in the considi'iation of tiie jjcople. 

 But (dk is in Latin ulce (quite like ((/(</), and this is uniform willi the Greek a\KTi, mean- 

 ing strength, prowess; one of the names of Hercules, for example, being derived ti.ero 

 from. The probability tliat alk, dk, alee, and dA.Ki) are radically if not still more closely 

 related, is heightened by the other vernacular names of this bird, (jair-Jhwl , ijoir-fui/rl, &c., 

 these qualifying prefixes being similar to tliose seen in yerfalivn, and recognized by 

 Steenstrup in inventing his genus Gymlca, the idea of size, strength, or other jjrcdomi- 

 nance being evident. If this be so, the (ilk, the 6\(;c-fowi, is the fowl, par ixcelliucc, as 

 elk, alee, is the great beast, as 6\c-falco is the falcon ; with the implication of some honor 

 or special esteem. Wc are thus led directly to HiemjUlco, whicli see, No. iOS. — Lat. 

 impcnnis, fcatherless, i. e., wingless, with reference to the diminutive wings, unfit for 

 flight; iM, negative, and /wn»a, a feather. 



Though the Great Auk is extinct in North America, and has doubtle " disappeared 

 from the face of tlie earth, we still keep the place in memoriam of this "mov honourable 

 and antient fowle." 



I.' 



