470 THE DIVING BIRDS — PYGOPODES. 



living, the " Gare-fowls " — as they were called in Iceland — were so constantly- 

 observed in the sea by the fishermen that their appearance hardly attracted any 

 attention. They were said to swim with their heads mnch lifted up and their necks 

 drawn in. They never made any attempt to flap along the water, but dived as soon 

 as they were alarmed. On the rocks they sat more upright than do either the Guil- 

 lemots or Razor-bills, and their stations were usually farther removed from the sea 

 than are those of these birds. They were easily frightened by loud noises, but not 

 by anything seen, and they would sometimes utter a few low croaks. They were not 

 known ever to attempt to make any defence of their eggs or young, but when caught 

 would bite fiercely. They walked or ran with short steps, and went straight on, in 

 the manner of a man. They have been known to drop from a rock into the water 

 some two fathoms below. 



To this account of the Great Auk Professor Newton adds the information — 

 received from Sir William Milner — of the possession by the latter of a fine specimen 

 of this bird that had been killed in the Hebrides. It has been stated by Professor 

 Reinhardt — although this is not fully credited by Professor NeAvton — that some 

 time before the extinction of this species, and when it was still numerous at its 

 breeding-places, it appears to have visited Greenland, but only during the winter 

 months. The birds were all in immature plumage, and appeared only in limited 

 numbers. He adds that at some time during the present century — probably about 

 1821 — a specimen is known to have been killed on Disco Island, and one other is 

 supposed to have been captured some years earlier. But none of the other in- 

 stances in which this bird is said to have been captured in Greenland are credited 

 by Professor Reinhardt. 



In the " Ibis " of January, 1865, mention is made of the fact that among a set of 

 bird bones from a place of ancient interment on the coast of Caithness, some remains 

 of this species were identified by Professor Owen. Mr. J. M. Jones, of Halifax, 

 presented to the British Museum an almost perfect skeleton of this bird, which had 

 been found on Punk Island, off the northeast coast of Newfoundland. In connection 

 with this interesting discovery, Mr. George A. Boardman, of Milltown, IST. B., informs 

 me that he was told by Rev. Mr. Wilson that this species, to his certain knowledge, 

 was still in existence about Newfoundland between 1814 and 1818. 



Audubon was told that the " Gare-fowl " was once plentiful about Nahant and 

 islands in Massachusetts Bay ; and although Professor Orton doubts the truth of the 

 statement made by the old hunters of Chelsea, it is probably true. The Auk was not 

 an Arctic bird, as Professor Orton states — certainly not exclusively so; and the fre- 

 quency with which fragments of its bones have been found in the shell-heaps along 

 the coast of Massachusetts is strong confirmatory evidence of the probable truth of 

 the statement given above. Bones of this species have been taken from shell-heaps 

 in Marblehead, from Eagle Hill, Ipswich, and from Plum Island, Newburyport. 



Mr. J. E. Cabot Avas informed by an old fisherman living in IpsAvich that a bird 

 Avhich must have been one of this species was captured by his father in that place 

 many years ago ; Mr. Cabot has no doubt that the bird then taken Avas the Great 

 Auk. Professor Wyman discovered the remains of this bird at Mount Desert ; and 

 Professor Baird obtained a humerus of this species in a shell-heap in IpsAvich in 

 August, 1868. 



Audubon also states that Mr. Henry Havell, Avhen on his passage from Ncav York 

 to England, hooked a Great Auk, on the Banks of NcAvfoundland, in extremely bois- 

 terous Aveather. This bird was left at liberty on deck, Avhere it walked very aAvk- 

 Avardly, often tumbling over, biting every one that came Avithin reach of its poAverful 



