THE GREAT AUK. 339 



Inches. 



" Length (total) ; tail not perfect 29 



of foliled wing [from carpus to point of longest quill] . 5^ 



„ bill from forehead ....... 3f 



,, „ gape or rictus ...... 4^ 



„ tarsus ......... 2:f 



„ middle toe ....... . 2f 



„ ,, and nail ...... 3f 



„ inner toe ........ 2^2 



„ „ and nail ...... 2f 



„ outer toe ....... . 2f 



and nail ^ H 



„ tail, which is broken, may have been about . . 2 



Depth (greatest) of bill, exceeding ...... 1^ " 



This specimen is now in the University Museum, Dublin, having 

 been liberally presented by Dr. Burkitt. 



As afterwards ascertained by Mr. Davis, a second great auk 

 was procured on the coast of Waterford, about the same time 

 as the one already noticed ; but, falling into ignorant hands, 

 it was not preserved. The Eev. Joseph Stopford, in February 

 1844, communicated a note to Dr. Harvey of Cork, stating, but 

 without any mention of date, that one of these birds had been 

 " obtained on the long strand of Castle Freke (in the west of the 

 county of Cork) ; having been water-soaked in a storm. ^' 



I have little doubt that two great aulvs were seen in Belfast 

 Bay on the 33rd of September, 1845, by H. Bell, a wild-fowl 

 shooter, whose good observation has already, more than once, 

 been alluded to. He saw two large birds the size of great northern 

 divers (which are well known to him), but with much smaller 

 wings. He imagined they might be young birds of that species 

 until he remarked that their heads and bills were "much more 

 clumsy" than those of the Columbus. They kept almost con- 

 stantly diving, and went to an extraordinary distance each time 

 with great rapidity. 



The " Alca impennis, Penguin," stated in Sampson^s ' Survey 

 of Londonderry ' to frequent the rocks of that county and of 

 Donegal, we may fairly take for granted is the Alca ton/a, or 

 razorbill, as this species has not a place in that author's catalogue 

 of birds. 



