EXPEDITION TO FUNK ISLAND. 513 



this is largely due to the selection of the best specimens that offered ; 

 any that were obviously poor being passed by. 



Professor Milne remarks that " the fact that there remains no evi- 

 dence of cuts or blows leads to the supposition that these birds may 

 have died peacefully " but some of the crania do show the marks of cuts 

 and blows, and, moreover, there is plenty of local history or tradition 

 to show exactly how these birds were done to the death. 



It should also be borne in mind that birds seldom die peacefully, for 

 nature rarely accords this boon to her subjects, and when they do meet 

 their end, they seem to have a habit of making away with their skele 

 tons: it would be more accurate to say have their skeletons made 

 away with, for dead birds do not often go to waste, but usually find 

 their way into the stomach of some hungry animal, possibly of the 

 same race. 



Dr. Stejneger tells me that during his stay at the Commander Islands 

 many sea birds were washed ashore during or after gales, but unless 

 one was on the beach before daylight the bodies were destroyed by foxes. 

 Even in the immense gnano deposits of the Chincha Islands, where 

 every circumstance is favorable to the preservation of inhumed speci- 

 mens, bird remains are of comparatively rare occurrence, while in lo- 

 calities where the climate is subject to extremes of heat and cold, rain 

 and sunshine, they go to pieces rapidly. 



It was not without regret that w^e prepared to leave so intci^esting a 

 spot as Funk Island, but having successfully accomplished our mission 

 of collecting bones of the G-reat Auk, no good reason remained for a 

 longer stay when many miles of our proposed route yet remained to be 

 traversed.. Accordingly we gathered up our various impedimenta, the 

 boat was brought alongside '' the bench " for the last time, and laden 

 with the spoils of our two days' labor we returned to the Grampus, which 

 lay at anchor a mile to the eastward of Escape Point. 



Fortune continued to smile on us, and as the threatening weather of 

 the morning had given way to calm, so now that we were ready to leave 

 a fair breeze sprang up that carried us rapidly toward the mainland. 



Funk Island grew lower and lower in the distance, and as the sun was 

 niearing the western horizon we bade the home of the Great Auk a long 

 farewell. 



It was the intention to visit, if possible, any localities whose names 

 indicated that the Great Auk might once have been found there, espe- 

 cially Penguin Islands on the south coast, and Penguin Islands near 

 Cape Freels. A brisk south wester drove us by the former place at a 

 very lively pace, while with the visit to Funk Island still in prospect, it 

 was not deemed advisable to lose any time in waiting for the wind and 

 sea to go down, so this portion of the trip was abandoned. 



On the eastern coast, however, the weather was more favorable ; so 

 after leaving Funk Island, the Grampus ran over to the well-named 

 harbor of Seldom Come By, and the next morning started for Penguin 

 H. Mis, 142, pt. 2 33 



