ALCIB^ — ALCIN^ : GREAT AUK. 



819 



tarsus 1.25 ; middle or outer toe and elaw 2.00, inner 1.40 ; chord of culmen 1.30, arc 1.50 j 

 gape 2.25; gonys 0.75; greatest depth of biU 0.90. This auk abounds in the N. Atlantic, 

 both coasts, and parts of the Polar .seas; casual in the N. Pacific; Japan. On our coast, 

 breeds in great numbers in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, about Newfoundland and Labrador 

 strays S. in winter to the 

 Middle States, like other 

 AMidcB. The eggs are 

 usually laid in caverns 

 and fissures of the rocks 

 along precipitous shore- 

 lines, often with those of 

 sea-pigeons and puffins ; 

 about 3.00 X scant 2.00, 

 white with, creamy or 

 mUky-bluish tint, never 

 green like those of murres, 

 spotted and blotched, but 

 not fantastically traced 

 over, with difierent shades 

 of umber - brown ; less 

 pointed ; laid in June and 

 July. 

 348. Ali'CA. (Lat. bom. alk 

 or auk.) His Grace, 

 The Auk, who lost the 

 use of his wings, and per- 

 ished oflf the face of the 

 earth in consequence. 

 878. A. Impeu'nis. (Lat. 

 impennis, wingless. Fig. 

 561.) The Great Auk. 

 Largest of the family: 

 length about 30.00 inches; 

 wing 6.00; tail 3.00; biU 

 along gape 4.25; chord Fig. 560. -Murres. 



of culmen 3.15 ; greatest depth of upper mandible 1.00, of lower 0.67 ; greatest width of bill 

 0.67; tarsus 1,67; middle toe and claw 3.25; outer do. 3.00; inner do. 2.25. A great white 

 oval spot between eye and bill. Hood and mantle dark; under parts white, extending in a 

 point on the throat; ends of secondaries white. Bill black, with, white grooves; feet dark. 

 Special interest attaches to this bird, which is now doubtless extinct, largely through human 

 agency. It formerly inhabited this coast from Massachusetts northward, as attested by earlier 

 observers, and by the, plentiful occurrence of its bones in shell-heaps; also Greenland, Iceland, 

 and the N. W. shores of Europe, to the Arctic Circle. On our shores it was apparently last 

 alive at the Funks, a small island off the S. Coast of Newfoundland; while in Iceland, its 

 living history has been brought down to 1844. For some years, it was currently, but prema- 

 turely, reported extinct. Mr. R. Deane has recently recorded (Am. Nat. vi, 368) that a speci- 

 men was "found dead in the vicinity of St. Augustine, Labrador, in November, 1870;" this 

 one, though in poor condition, being sold for $200, and sent to Europe. But there appears to 

 be some question respecting the character, date, and disposition of this alleged individual; and 

 it seems very improbable that the species lived down to 1870. I know of only four speci- 



