106 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol.xv. 



American Penguin as given by Clusius under that heading, 

 goes on to say that he himself had in his possession three 

 specimens of the Garefowl, one of which he kept ahve ; 

 his words are : — ■ 



" This bird was brought to me from the Feroe Islands, I 

 kept it alive for some months at my house. It was a young 

 one, for it had not arrived at such bigness as to exceed a 

 common goose. It would swallow an entire herring at once 

 and sometimes three successively before it was satisfied. 

 The feathers on its back were so soft and even that they 

 resembled black velvet. Its belly was of pure white, above 

 the eyes it had a round white spot of the bigness of a Dollar 

 that you would have sworn it were a pair of spectacles (which 

 Clusius observed not)* neither were its wings of that figure 

 he expresses, but a little broader with a border of white." 



It will be noted that Wormius makes no mention of the 

 white ring round the bird's neck, this may be from the fact 

 that it was artificial, as above suggested, or that he added it 

 to the picture out of deference to Clusius's description of the 

 South American Penguin : " Albis pennis, tamquam torque 

 cinctum " (a collar of white feathers). 



The mention of the Great Auk in John Tradescant's account 

 of his famous museum is but of the briefest ; it runs as follows : 

 p. 3. " Penguin which never flies for want of wings." 



Both the Great Auk and the Penguin may have been in 

 the collection and, as we shall see later, Francis Willughby 

 was of the opinion that he had seen the former among 

 Tradescant's treasures. The reference in Forges's Catalogue 

 is, however, far more explicit. Who Robert Hubert alias 

 Forges may have been we are unable to discover, but he 

 appears to have been an able showman, and he certainly 

 leaves us in no doubt as to the identity of the bird which he 

 describes as : — 



" A strange sea fowl as big as a goose. It is caUed the 

 Sea Penguin, it cannot fly for its wings are like pinnes and it 

 is so thick of feathers that one cannot shoot him unless behind 

 because of the growth of his thick down or feathers. He is 

 found three score leagues from the Coast of Canada." 



* Clusius however did, but described the Garefowl under 

 "Mergus Americanus." 



