ij6 British Birds, with their Nests and £ggs. 



Gairfowl, being the stateliest, as well as the largest sort, and above the size of a 

 Solan-Goose ; of a black colour, red about the e}'es, a large white spot under each, 

 a long broad bill. It stands stately, its whole body erected ; its wings short, flies 

 not at all ; lays its eggs upon the bare rock, which if taken away she lays no 

 more for that year. She is whole footed, and has the hatching spot upon her 

 breast, i.e., a bare spot from which the feathers have fallen off with the 

 heat in hatching ; its egg is twice as big as that of a Solan Goose, and 

 is variously spotted black, green, and dark. It comes without regard to 

 any wind, appears the first of May, and goes away about the middle of June." 

 Pennant describes the egg as of a white colour, in some cases irregularly 

 marked with purplish lines crossing each other, in others blotched with black and 

 ferruginous about the thicker end. On the authority of Macaulay (" History of 

 St. Kilda," 1764), he adds that the Great Auk did not visit the island annually, 

 but sometimes kept away for several years together; it laid its egg close to the 

 sea-mark, being incapable, by reason of the shortness of its wings, to mount 

 higher. The Great Auk is believed to have made no nest, and to have deposited its 

 one large egg on the rocks. The average measurements of an egg are, length 

 about 4'9 inches, breadth about 2'9 or 3"oo inches. The eggs have the ground 

 colour whitish or brownish-white, and have underlying grey markings and dark 

 brown or blackish surface markings ; the markings are very irregular in shape, 

 usually most numerous about the larger end of the egg, and take the form of spots 

 as well as streaks, lines and scrolls ; some eggs are heavily marked, others only 

 lightly. It is said that the Garefowls swam with their heads much lifted up, but their 

 necks drawn in ; they never tried to flap along the surface, but dived as soon as 

 alarmed. On land they assumed a very upright appearance. They walked or ran 

 with short steps, went straight like a man, and could go almost as fast as a man 

 could walk ; when pursued their little wings were somewhat extended as they ran. 

 A few croaks were sometimes uttered by them. Dr. Fleming wrote of this bird, 

 which came into his possession when he was on board the yacht Regeyit, in 1821. 

 "When fed in confinement it holds up its head, expressing its anxiety bv shaking 

 its head and neck and uttering a gurgling noise. It dives and swims under water, 

 even with a long cord attached to its foot, with incredible swiftness." 



Mr. S. Grieves' latest summary of existing remains of the Garefowl is as 

 follows: — skins 79 or 80; skeletons (more or less complete) 23 or 24; detached 

 bones 850 or 861 ; physiological preparations 2 or 3 ; eggs 70 or 72. The 

 skin of the Great Auk, now in the Edinburgh Museum, was sold just 

 after being offered at Mr. J. C. Stevens' Auction Rooms, in April 1895, for 

 ^367 10s. ; it is said to be a very fine specimen. Taking into consideration the 



