The Bird Rock Group. 



wise protected places, and the young are born con- (.-rod with a 

 a nish 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 roj some 77 skins, a few skeletons, and 70 C 



