The Bird Rock Group. 19 
wise protected places, and the young are born covered with a 
brownish down. 
The accompanying illustration of the Razor-billed Auk and 
Great Auk is of interest not alone because the former is and the 
latter was an inhabitant of Bird Rock, but also because it permits 
of a comparison of two closely allied birds, one of which has 
retained, while the other has lost, the power of flight. The Great 
GREAT AUK AND RAZOR-BILLED AUK. SHOWING COMPARATIVE SIZE. 
From specimens in the American Museum. 
Auk, unlike the Razor-bill, nested on low islands to which it 
could gain access by means of the feet alone. It fed on fish, 
migration was unnecessary, and as a result of disuse it evidently 
lost the power of flight, its wings serving only as paddles for pro- 
pulsion under the water. Hence it fell an easy victim to fisher- 
men, who, landing on the islets to which it resorted, killed it in 
great numbers for its flesh. The last living Great Auk was seen 
in 1844, and all that remains of the myriads described by the 
early voyagers is some 77 skins, a few skeletons, and 70 eggs. 
