Arctic sea-cow, (Rytina gigas), the hi 



given in 

 Thra 



<mr pages, 1 was exterminated 

 ; species of birds from the 



extinct. The last ornithological en] 

 islands found no specimens of the Ma 

 about half a dozen specimens represei 

 world. It was probably exterminate* 

 the yellow war cloaks of the Sandwic 



Chwtopt 

 small ta 



illes, rail , Punmla tmudubn 



as rare. 



It would appear that nea 



The California Vulture (Pseud onnjphu* cilifornhinusi is now 

 extremely rare, and largely restricted to Southern California. "The 

 free use of strychnine in ridding the cattle ranches of wolves and 

 coyotes has caused the disappearance of this bird, which has been 

 poisoned by feeding on the carcases prepared for the four-looted 

 scavengers." The Dodo (Did us ineptusj of Mauritius, and the Soli- 

 taire (Pezohaps solitaria) of Rodriguez, have a history too well known 

 to be recounted here. They are represented in the ^National Museum 

 by a few bones. 



So, too, the fate of the Labrador duck (Camptolcemw labradorius) 

 and of the great Auk (Alca impennis) has often been told. Of the 

 former but 36 specimens are in existence. Two of these in the 

 Nation:.; Mu-eiim were collected by Daniel Webster. The last speci- 

 men was taken in 1878. Specimens of the Great Auk are not so rare, 

 and yet they command enormous prices. Ihe last skeleton sold 

 brought $600, the last skin §650 and an egg brought $1500. The 

 Great Auk was probably exterminated in 1840. 



Pallas' Cormorant {Phalacrocorax penpieUhOu*) of the region 

 around Kamchatka has a brief history. It was kilied h\ man toi 

 food. In 1741 it was "frequentissimi" on Bering Island. About a 

 hundred years later it was extinct and is represented today by four 

 stuffed specimens and twenty-three bones in all the museums of the 



Of the lower vertebrates Mr. True refers to the great Galap«g< 8 

 tortoises and their relatives of the Mascarene Islands, and the Tile 

 fish. The forms have already formed the subject of a paper by Dr. 

 Baur in this Journal 2 and it is only necessary to say that probably 



