THE AUK. 
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black, with spots of paler brown and light purplish blue 
interspersed. The young come out in about four weeks. 
THE GREAT AUK, 
The Great Auk ^ Ulca impennis) sometimes called the 
Gare Fowl, or Penguin. 
This bird now alone represents the divided genus Ulcay 
which, in the Linnajan arrangement, includes also the 
Rotche, the Puffin, and the Eazor Bill. Many authors 
still consider this and the Little Auk, as the latter bird is 
often called, as congeners. 
This species is about as large as a goose, measuring about 
twenty-five inches in length. Its bill is shaped much like 
that of the Little Auk just described, and is black, with 
white grooves across it. The head, throat, sides, and hind 
part of the neck, with all the upper parts, are black ; the 
throat and sides of the neck tinged with chocolate brown ; 
the wings with greyish brown ; the head, hind neck, and back, 
are glossed with olive green ; there is a large oblong patch 
of white before each eye ; the tips of the smaller quills, and 
all the lower parts, are white. In winter, the brownish 
black of the fore neck is replaced by white. 
This very remarkable bird is an inhabitant of the arctic 
seas ; it is rare in Britain, not more than ten individuals 
having been obtained here. One of these was taken in a 
