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THE GREAT AUK, 
Alca mpemis. 
PLATE XVI. 
Alca impennis, Linn . — Penguin braehiptere, Temm . — Great 
Auk of British authors. 
The king and queen of the Auks, as the sexes of 
this bird are called by the northern islanders, have 
some claim to the title, whether we regard their 
ample size or extreme rarity ; and, wc believe there 
is no bird in more request by the British, or even 
general collector, or one which would bring a larger 
price in the ornithological market. Very few spe- 
cimens have been obtained or seen ; that in the Bri- 
tish Museum and long unique as a British bird, was 
procured for Mr. Bullock, near Papa Westra; some 
one or two specimens have been seen, one obtained 
by Mr. Stevenson off St. Kilda, which afterwards, 
we believe, escaped ; two are recorded as picked up 
in England, but evidently under peculiar circum- 
stances ; and one is mentioned by Mr. Thompson 
to have been taken in 1834, off the coast of Water- 
ford, in Ireland. In the old account of a voyage to St. 
