TJin AMERTCAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL mSTORY. 



391 



is tlic groat :n\k. The fine sj)0('iiiKMi Been liero 

 Wiis tlie gift of l{.ol)ert Ij. StiiMit. second president 

 of tlic nuiseum. It was purehased in London for 

 $G25 in gold, but its exact liistory is not known. 

 The great fiuk was formerly common in North 

 America, and in the liritish Isles, iiorthward to 

 the Arctic Circle. It i)roI)ably existed in New 

 England until the close of tlie scventeontli cent- 

 ury. In 18-4-i two were killed in Iceland. None 

 have since been found. Only three other stuffed 

 Bpccimens exist in the United States — one in the 

 National J^Iuseum at Wasiiiiigton, one in the 

 Philadelphia Academy of Science, and one at 

 Yassar College, Poughkeepsie. So far as known, 

 there are in the world only seventy-eight skins, 

 sixty-six eggs and ten natural skeletons of this 

 ancient fowl. One of its latest resorts was the 

 Funk Islands, about thirty miles from Newfound- 

 land, and from bones found there " inadc-up " 

 skeletons are constructed. The skeleton shown 

 by the side of the great auk Avas thus obtained by 

 Frederick A. Lucas, who A'isited the islands in 

 1887 for the jnirpose of obtaining the bones. 



Some beautifully crested cranes attract the eye, 

 and other birds of the same order : the South 

 American trumpeter, so called from the curious 

 noise it makes ; the Florida crying bird ; and the 

 almost fliglitless wood hen. The extinct geant 

 belonged to this order — a gigantic bird, standing 

 about six feet high. It was an inhabitant of the 

 Island of Rodriguez, but disappeared about two 

 hundred years ago — oidy a few bones being in ex- 

 istence. 



The general order of gallinaceous birds is note- 

 worthy as including not only our domestic fowls, 

 and such as are called "game," but also many re- 

 markable for the beauty of their plumage. Some 

 of the more striking forms are the jungle fowls — 

 the tragopan, the peacock and the argus pheasant, 

 elegantly clothed in soft plumage of lovely mot- 

 tled browns. 



The nunind builders, allied to this same family, 

 build enormous mounds of earth mixed with dead 

 leaves, or some other vegetable matter, in which 

 they lay their eggs, leaving them to be hatched 

 by the heat developed by the decomposition of the 

 mass. The crowned pigeon, found in New Guinea 

 and neighboring islands, attracts admiring notice 

 because of its open, feathered crest and plumage 

 of beautiful dove color. 



That long-wingod bird, the wandering alba- 

 tross, has a stretch of wing measuring fourteen 

 feet from tip to tip, and is generally seen on the 

 wing in the Southern seas. The graceful stormy 

 petrel, of many varieties, is also always at home 

 in mid-ocean. Another remarkable aquatic bird 

 is the frigate bird, with plumage of iridescent 

 tints, and of which only two species are known. 

 Very curious creatures are the tropical horned 



screamers, the wings, and in some species the 

 head, being armed with long, sjtiuy horns. They 

 swim well, lly hig'i, and scream so loud that they 

 can be heard miles away. The beautiful snlmon- 

 tinted flamingoes are natives of tropical and sein.'- 

 tropical countries. So also are the quaint white 

 and rose-colored spoonbills aiul the brilliant-plu- 

 magcd ibises. Especially interesting is the sa- 

 cred ibis, the venerated bird of the ancient Egyp- 

 tians. 



We notice admiringly the largo family of gay- 

 colored orioles; the ^lert little cardinal bird, with 

 brilliant feathers and queer little ca]) ; the long, 

 slender-billed curlews, and the scissors-tailed fly- 

 catcher; and a California woodpecker is shown, 

 with a specimen of the mischief ho docs, in the 

 shape of several feet of a telegraph-pole from Ore- 

 gon riddled with holes made by this bird for the 

 purpose of storing acorns for its Winter use. 

 Many of the acorns are still to be seen in the 

 lioles. 



We might linger long over the collection of 

 owls, whose comically serious faces always pro- 

 voke a smile ; or the parrot group, including nu- 

 merous species varying in size from the little love- 

 bird to the great, noisy macaw ; or the curious- 

 crested hoopoes; or the brilliant-colored toucanS; 

 with beak nearly as large as body; or the trogons, 

 gorgeous in color, of v;hich the most striking is 



IHE FIBST BIKD — THE ABClIEOFTEKrs, POUND IS 

 LirnOORAPH STONE IN BAVARIA. 



