1871.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
253 
The Great and Razor-billed Auks. 
The family of Auks includes marine 
aquatic birds, -with large webbed feet, 
from which the hind toe is absent. The 
wings are frequently so small as to be 
useless for flight, and the short, strong 
legs are placed so far back, that -when 
the birds are at rest upon the rocks, they 
appear to be standing in an upright 
position. The penguins, -with ■which 
most persons are familiar through pic- 
tures, belong to this family. There are 
two Auks, the Great Auk {Alca impen- 
nis) and the Razor-billed Auk (Alca tor- 
da),hol\i of which are found in the Arctic 
regions of North America. As far as 
the Great Auk is concerned, it perhaps 
would be safer to say it was found, as 
the bird is now believed to be extinct. 
The new museum of Natural History at 
Central Park is fortunate in possessing 
a specimen of this rare bird, there be- 
ing but two others known to exist in 
the country. The bird was once ob- 
tained in Iceland, but it is some twenty 
years since a pair was captured, though 
English naturalists have since visited 
its former haunts for the purpose of ob- 
taining specimens. The egg has sold in 
Europe for as much as £30 a single 
specimen. The Great Auk stands near- 
ly three feet high. The bill is long, 
curved, and flattened sidewise, the up- 
per mandible being marked by six to 
ten curved transverse grooves. The 
head and upper parts of the body 
are brownish-black, the under parts 
white, and there is an oval spot of white in 
front of each eye. The wings are mere rudi- 
ments, and the bird is unable to fly, though it 
BUFF COCHIN COCK. 
moves with great rapidity in the water, and is 
said to have distanced a six-oared boat. For- 
GREAT AUK AND SEA DOVE. 
merly the skins of this bird were much used 
by the Esquimaux as a material for garments. 
The Razor-billed Auk is not considered a 
rare bird. It comes down 
from the Arctic regions in 
winter, and is occasionally 
found as far south as the coast 
of New Jersey. Having the 
same general form as the Great 
Auk, this species is only about 
half its size. It is, moreover, 
able to fly. The bill is flatten- 
ed, black, with a single trans- 
verse line of white, and with 
three to five transverse grooves. 
The head and entire upper 
part of the body are brownish- 
black, with a clearer brown 
on the neck in front. The 
under parts white. A line of 
white, extending from the base 
of the bill to the eye, is one of 
the distinguishing marks of 
this species. This Auk is also 
found in the northern regions 
of the Old World, and is hunt- 
ed wherever found for the sake 
of its warm and elastic breast 
feathers. It lays but a single 
e£rg, which is as large as a 
turkey's egg, and curiously 
poised upon end by means of 
a viscid substance, which ac- 
companies the egg when it is 
deposited. The eggs are con- 
sidered a great delicacy. The 
small bird by the side of the 
Great Auk, in the engraving, 
is the Sea Dove, which is not 
rare upon the Atlantic Coast in winter, 
from the Auks proper, in many partic- 
ulars, especially in the structure of the 
bill. Our engraving is from specimens 
at the Museum at Central Park. 
A New Variety of Buff Cochins. 
The engravings here given, show the 
portraits, taken from life, of a pair of 
Cochin fowls raised by Mr. Andrew 
Gorsline, of Bloomfiekl, N. J. The birds 
are of a light buff color, with beautiful 
and uniform plumage. The legs are 
feathered of a lighter color to the tips 
of the toes. The combs are single. 
These birds arc strikingly unlike ordi- 
nary Cochins in the markings of their 
plumage, the'flight feathers of the wings 
and the tail feathers being pure white. 
The hackle is also marked with white. 
These peculiar markings give the birds 
a very stylish appearance. The hens 
weigh eight pounds each, and the cock 
twelve pounds. These fowls are said 
to be good layers, summer and winter, 
and their flesh is of fine quality. The 
owner of these birds, who is quite a 
poultry fancier, regards them as the 
choicest of his stock, as they combine 
three very desirable qualities, namely: 
the rapid production of flesh, prolific 
laying of eggs, and the possession of 
the most beautiful plumage. Mr. Gors- 
line does not at present state the man- 
ner in which this cross was produced, 
but it is evident that it was accidently 
or intentionally done through the 
agency of some breed with white 
plumage. At all events, the markings seem 
to be quite well fixed, as„several broods of 
chickens from the eggs of these fowls uniformly 
BUFF COCHIN HEN. 
This is 
sometimes called the Little Auk, but it differs 
present the same characters. The owner of 
these fowls proposes to exhibit them at the 
