AUKS, MURRES, AND PUFFINS 
149 
33. Plautus impennis {Linn.). Great Auk. Upperparts fuscous- 
black, a large white spot before the eye ; secondaries tipped with white ; sides 
of the neck and throat seal-brown, rest of the underparts silvery white. L., 
28-00-30-00; W., 5*75; B., 3'15-3-50; greatest depth of B., 1'50 (Ridgw.). 
Range . — Formerly coasts and islands of the n. Atlantic, from near the 
Arctic Circle s. to Mass, and Ireland, and probably s. casually to S. C. 
and Fla.; now extinct. 
Egg, 1, pyriform-ovate, pale olive buffy, variously marked with brown 
and black, 4*67 x 2*91 (Ridgw.). 
The Great Auk was flightless. Like 
other birds of this family, it frequented 
certain localities in large numbers each 
year to breed. Early voyagers and fisher- 
men visited its nesting-grounds, killing 
the helpless birds in enormous numbers 
for their flesh, feathers and oil. The 
result was extinction, and no living Great 
Auk has been observed 
since 1842. About 
seventy specimens are 
known to be preserved 
in collections. 
In 1902, two humeri 
of the Great Auk, both 
from the left side, were 
found in a shell-mound 
at Ormond, Fla. (Hay, 
Auk, XIX, p. 255), 
where their discovery 
gives new meaning to 
Catesby’s statements 
that the “Penguin” 
Fig. 77. Great Auk. Note the short wings of a 
flightless bird. (Much reduced.) 
was a winter visitant to South Carolina. 
1888. Lucas,. F. A., Auk, V, 278-283.— 1887-8, Rep. U. S. Nat. Mus., 
493-529. — 1891. Ibid., 709-728 (history). — 1893. Newton, A., Dictionary 
of Birds (history, bibliography). 
34. Alle alle {Linn.). Dovekie. Ads. in summer. — Upperparts, 
wings and tail sooty black; sides and front of neck and upper breast some- 
what browner; secondaries tipped and scapulars streaked with white; 
lower breast and belly white. Ads. in winter and Im. — Similar, but throat 
whiter or washed with dusky, and sometimes a gray collar on nape. L., 
8-00; W., 4-50; Tar., -70; B., ’50. 
Range .— Coasts and islands of the n. Atlantic. Breeds from Kane 
Basin and Baffin Bay east to Franz Josef Land; winters from s. Greenland 
s. to L. I., and casually to Delaware Bay and N. C.; accidental near 
Melville Island, and in Wise., Mich., Ont., and Bermuda. 
Long Island, Nov. 18-Mch. 24. Ossining, A. V. Cambridge, irregular 
T. V., late fall or winter. 
Nest, on the ledges and in the crevices of rocky cliffs. Egg , 1, pale, 
bluish white, 1*85 x 1"27. Date , Disco Bay, Greenland, June 28. 
“On the approach of a vessel this bird has a peculiar way of splash- 
