GREAT AUK. 
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inhabitants of Ireland.” Two other specimens were taken 
near the entrance of Waterford Harbour in May, 1834. 
Three other instances of the capture of the Great Auk have 
been recorded by Thompson, but confirmatory evidence is 
lacking. 
Range outside the British Islands. — Iceland seems to have 
been the last known resort of the present species, which 
appears at no time to have been an Arctic bird. Its bones 
have also been discovered in the kitchen-middens of Den- 
mark, and the remains of the species discovered on Funk 
Island, off Newfoundland, have been considerable. 
Hahits. — The scanty notes on the habits of the Great Auk 
are derived from the accounts of early voyagers. Although 
incapable of flight, its diving powers are admitted to have 
been extraordinary. Like other flightless birds, it seems to 
have been stupidly tame in its disposition, and this fact alone 
accounts for its rapid extermination. The bird captured off 
Waterford actually approached the boat for food, and was 
apparently in a starving condition. “ For some days after its 
capture it ate greedily of potatoes mashed in milk. After 
keeping it for ten days, it was sold to Mr. Davis, who sent it 
to Mr. Gough, of Horetown, co. Wexford. Singularly, for 
about three weeks after its transference to its new home, it 
was not known to eat anything. Mr. Gough, fearing it would 
succumb, caused potatoes and milk to be forced down its 
throat, and from that time it ate voraciously until within a day 
or two of its death. It died a little over four months after its 
capture. When in Mr. Gough’s possession, its principal food 
was trout and other fresh-water fish, which it seemed to prefer 
to fish from the sea. It swallowed the fish entire. (Parkin 
“ The Great Auk or Gare-fowl,” p. 6, 1894.) 
Nest. — None, the single egg being laid on a rock. 
Eggs. — One. The eggs of the Great Auk may be described 
as those of a gigantic Razor-bill, going through the same kind 
of varieties as in the latter species, but, of course, greatly 
exceeding the Razor-bill’s egg in size. The number of Great 
Auk’s eggs in various museums and private collections is 
seventy-one, as I am informed by Mr. Edward Bidwell, who 
has personally examined nearly all the specimens. 
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