OOLOGIST'S EXCHANGE. 



approaching within about 5 feet of the 

 tree, a small bird — a warbler of some 

 species new to me I saw at a glance — 

 drops from the nest on to the ground 

 in front of me, and flutters away among 

 the vines and weeds for probably 20 

 feet, when not seeing me follow her 

 she mounted a rock, and giving a sharp 

 chirp of alarm was immediately joined 

 by the male when I at once recognized 

 him as the Chestnut-Sided Warbler. 

 Hastily securing the nest and four eggs 

 which it contained, and procuring the 

 male as a surer means of identification 

 should any question arise, I started for 

 home well pleased with my discovery, 

 and forgetting entirely my mission to 

 the thicket. 



After blowing the eggs I measured 

 them and found the measurements as 

 follows : ,67x.50, .68x.50, .65x.48, .68x.50. 



This is the first record of the bird's 

 appearance in this state I believe ; at 

 any rate, this is the first specimen I 

 have ever found in the state during six 

 years collecting. 



Dec. 28, 1889. 



THE GREAT AUK. 

 Plautus Impennis {Linn.) 



BY FRANK C. BAKER. 



What ornithologist has not felt a 

 tremor of excitement at the mention of 

 this bird, the rarest of all our North 

 American avifauna. 



Of this bird Dr. Coues says: "It 

 formerly inhabited this coast from 

 Massachusetts northward, as attested 

 by earlier observers, and by the plenti- 

 ful occurrence of its bones in shell 

 heaps; also Greenland, Iceland, and 

 the N. W. shores of Europe, to the 

 Arctic Circles. On our shores it was 

 apparently last alive at the Funks, a 

 small island on the south coast of New- 

 foundland; while in Iceland, its living 

 history has been brought down to 1844." 



The original description of this bird 

 appeared in Linnaeus "Systema Na- 

 turae," 12th edition, vol. 1, page 210, as 

 follows: "beak anteriorly compressed 

 sulcate, with anovate spot on each side 

 before the eyes." The locality given 

 by Linnaeus was " Seas of Arctic 

 Europe." In " Birds of North America " 

 by Baird, Cassin, and Lawrence (I860) 

 page 901, the following paragraph ap- 

 pears. "The largest of the family 

 Alcidae inhabiting the northern re- 



gions, and remarkable as the only 

 species not possessing the power of 

 flight, approximating in that respect 

 to the penguins of the southern hem- 

 isphere. This bird appears to be of 

 rather rare occurrence, and is highly 

 valued by collectors and naturalists. 

 We have never seen an American 

 specimen. That figured by Mr. Audu- 

 bon, and obtained on the banks of New- 

 foundland, is now in the hands of Mr. 

 P. Girard, Jr. This and one in the 

 collection of the Philadelphia Academy 

 of Natural Sciences are all known to 

 exist in any American museum." 



It has been erroneously supposed that 

 the Great Auk was a bird of the far 

 north, and belonged to Polar Regions. 

 This error originated in the inadver- 

 tence of naturalists, who have con- 

 founded localities quite distinct and 

 remote from one another. There is 

 hardly a single instance on record of a 

 reliable capture within the limits of the 

 Arctic circle. This bird seems to have 

 existed in considerable numbers upon 

 a series of islets to the southwest of Ice- 

 land and distant about thirteen miles. 

 The outer island of all, and one 

 on which these birds are supposed to 

 have chiefly abounded, was formerly 

 one of the most considerable of the 

 chain ; but in 1830, after a series of 

 submarine disturbances, it entirely dis- 

 appeared. In 1807, during the hostili- 

 ties between England and Denmark, a 

 privateer that had plundered the Faroes 

 and Reykjavik visited these islands 

 and made the most wholesale slaughter 

 of the Auks. Again in 1810, the in- 

 habitants of the Faroes, being reduced 

 almost to starvation by the war, made 

 an excursion to Iceland, on which occa- 

 sion these islands were again invaded, 

 and this bird subjected to a murderous 

 attack. It is probable that these two 

 wholesale massacres so veiy nearly 

 exterminated these birds that they 

 never recovered from their effects. In 

 1821 and 1828 there are reliable records 

 of the capture of this bird. In 1830, 

 the year in which the main islet dis- 

 appeared, an inhabitant of Kyrkjiwoge 

 visited the high rock which stands be- 

 tween the sunken island and the cape, 

 and in two excursions obtained nearly 

 twenty specimens; and in the follow- 

 ing year twenty-four were taken, one 

 of which was brought off alive. In 

 1833, 1834, 1840 and '41, other captures 

 were made, and the last record of the 

 Auk in Iceland was in 1844. 



TO BE CONTINUED. 



