Birds. 



8109 



the personal acquaintance of the last-mentioned illustrious naturalist, 

 who soon after published so valuable a contribution to this bird's 

 history.* 



In this paper, therefore, I do not mean to refer much to the bird's 

 appearance in other localities, except in one instance to correct a 

 very prevalent misapprehension. But, on the other hand, I do not 

 claim entire novelty for several of the statements I have to make. 

 Some of them have already found their way into one book or another; 

 sometimes rightly reported, sometimes wrongly. Nor do I profess to 

 be sure that the account I have to give is always the true one. It 

 must be remembered that the results here recorded are the main 

 points of evidence deduced from many authorities, and offered by 

 nearly one hundred living witnesses ; and though I do not doubt that 

 the greater number of these latter are persons of eminently truthful 

 habit (for such is the natural characteristic of the Icelander), yet some 

 few there are who may have wilfully told falsehoods. Nor should it 

 be forgotten that it is, humanly speaking, impossible for any two per- 

 sons, however honestly disposed, to give identically the same version 

 of the same events, though most generally in such cases the variations 

 will be unimportant. Add to this that much of the evidence, though 

 written down at the time by Mr. Wolley (whose note-books I have 

 carefully consulted) in a most painstaking manner, had to pass 

 through an interpreter ; and as nearly all of it referred to a period of 

 many years ago, it will not be surprising if some inaccuracies have 

 crept in. 



The particular misconception to which I wish to draw especial 

 attention is, that the great auk is, or was, a bird of the Jar North ; 

 indeed, of the Polar regions. That such an opinion prevails, one has 

 only to refer to authorities generally received by ornithologists of all 

 countries. Professor Steenstrup, in the paper to which L have 

 alluded, has conclusively shown it to be unfounded, without, however, 

 having been able to trace the error satisfactorily to its source. For 

 mvself, I imagine it to have originated in the inadvertence of natu- 

 ralists, which, in the case of northern localities, leads them to speak 

 of Spitzbergen, Greenland and Labrador as if they were synonymous, 

 or at least interchangeable terms. Regarding it in this light, long 

 before we had heard of Professor Steenstrup's conclusions, Mr. Wolley 

 and I had satisfied ourselves that statements like Temminck's, that 



* Videuskabelige Meddelser for Aaret 1855. Kjobenbavn. 1856—1857. Pp.33 

 -116. 



