GREAT AUK. 
229 
Kilda, in 1697, by M. Martin, Gentleman, we have 
this account, — “ The sea fowls are, first, the Gair- 
foicl, being the stateliest, as well as the largest, of 
all the fowls here, and above the size of a solan 
goose, of a black colour, red about the eyes, a large 
white spot under each eye, a long broad bill ; stands 
stately, his whole body erected ; his wings short ; 
he flyeth not at all ; lays his egg upon the bare 
rock, which, if taken away, he lays no more for that 
year ; he is palmipes, or web-footed ; and has the 
hatching-spot upon his breast, i. e., a bare spot, 
from which the feathers have fallen off with the 
heat in hatching ; his egg is twice as big as that of 
a solan goose, and is variously spotted, black, green, 
and dark ; lie comes, without regard to any wind, 
appears the 1st of May, and goes away about the 
middle of June.” In Northern Europe and America 
it appears to be equally rare, none of those gentle- 
men who have lately visited the former having met 
with it. It was not obtained on the arctic expeditions ; 
Mr. Audubon did not meet with it in Labrador, and 
in fact, procured comparatively little authentic in- 
formation regarding it. 
The Great Auk seems incident to the same 
changes which will be described in the better known 
Razor-bill. The length of the bird, so far as we can 
make out from descriptions, is from thirty inches 
to three feet ; the bill, four inches long, is black, 
with transverse furrows, the grooves white; in 
front and around the eyes is a large oval patch of 
white ; the other parts of the head, the neck, back, 
