EXPEDITION TO FUNK ISLAND. 515 



There can be little doubt that the extent of the breeding range of the 

 Great Auk has been as a rule much overestimated, and the writer's 

 own belief is that, like the Gannet, the Garefowl was confined to a very 

 few localities. This is known to have been the case in Europe, and, 

 while the fact is more difficult to prove in regard to America, it must 

 be borne in mind that all definite accounts of the Great Auk in the 

 New World point to, at the most, three or four localities, although dur- 

 ing its migrations the bird occurred along the Atlantic coast from New- 

 foundland to Virginia. 



Had it been otherwise, and had the Great Auk, as is so often stated, 

 bred at numerous localities along the coasts of Newfoundland and Lab- 

 rador, the bird in limited numbers would probably be alive today. 



The circumstance that the bird, with suicidal persistence, resorted to 

 a few chosen breeding places, and that it was there found in great num- 

 bers, rendered its destruction not only possible but probable, and when 

 the white man first set foot in America, the extinction of the Great Auk 

 became merely a question of time. 



The only thing that has kept the Gannet from sharing the fate of the 

 Garefowl is the inaccessible nature of its nesting places, and even this 

 may not save him much longer, while the Razor-bill and Murre, in spite 

 of their wide range and similar choice of steep cliffs whereon to raise 

 their young, have sadly fallen off in numbers. 



This decrease is due to the fact that the eggs of these birds are taken 

 at all seasons when they are to be had, and although the law may check 

 the practice it can not put a stop to it, so that the sea- fowl are gradu- 

 ally lessening in number. Still it is scarcely probable that any of the 

 smaller Auks will suffer the fate of their great relative whose flightless- 

 ness foreordained its extermination, and whose sole chance for safety 

 lay in the choice of unknown or inaccessible breeding grounds. 



B. — Skeletal Variation of the Great Auk. 



The material collected by the Gramp^is comprised 2 cubic feet of earth 

 brought away as nearly as possible undisturbed, in order to show the 

 bones in situ, a barrel of Auk remains gathered along the crest of the 

 island, and nearly another barrel of select material, containing the best 

 preserved bones that could be found. 



The disposition so far made of this material is as follows : a perfect 

 skeleton has been placed in the exhibition series of the U. S. National 

 Museum, one has been presented to the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 

 Cambridge, Massachusetts, and another to the American Museum of 

 Natural History, New York.* 



One specimen, sent in exchange to a well-known Loudon dealer in 

 natural history material, has found its way to the Museum of Science 



* It is of course understood that tUese skeletons are " made up " from bones of va- 

 rious individuals. 



