888 Mr. A. Newton on Mr. J. Wolley’s Researches 
dead) and his son SigurSr, who related the circumstance to us. 
This witness is certain that it was about the beginning of July 
of the same year as that of Faber’s visit. They sold the skins, 
which our informant himself took off, commencing the operation 
by making a hole transversely across between the legs, as he 
would do in the case of a quadruped. They afterwards ate the 
bodies, and sold the skins to the A'sgrimur before mentioned*. 
The occurrence of so many examples of this bird nearly in the 
same locality may perhaps be accounted for by the fact that 
the tide runs in very strongly round Skagen, and sets along 
Holmsbergf. The Auks, after fishing on that side of the pro¬ 
montory, may have found themselves unable to make head 
against the current, and so have betaken themselves to the shore. 
I may here observe that we failed to gather any further infor¬ 
mation respecting a bird said by Dr. Kjserbolling (Danmark’s 
Fugle, p. 415) to have been killed in 1818 on a place in South 
Iceland, where many had been observed; but Etatsraad Reinhardt 
records ( loc. cit.) the death of one in 1828, and I think the Doctor 
is altogether mistaken in the assertion that “ Apothecary Mech- 
lenburg of Flensborg possesses a pair which were killed on the 
Gare-fowl skerries in 1829, w r here they were courageously de¬ 
fending their two eggs.” But of this last supposed capture I 
shall say more presently. 
* The Icelandic skins of Foxes (Canis lagopus ) are all flayed in the way 
above described. I cannot help suggesting that these may have been the 
two Great Auks’ skins stated by the late Etatsraad Reinhardt {loc. cit.) 
as being received in 1823 from Oerebakke (Eyrarbakki), though they were 
said to have been killed there in that year by a boy with a stick. Faber, 
when in the district, lived for some weeks in A'sgrimur’s house, who was 
probably thus aware that he wanted them. On leaving it he went in the 
direction of Eyrarbakki, on July 9th he was five miles to the east of Ke- 
blavik, and in the end of that month and in the next was on the West- 
n an Islands (Prodr. pp. 38 & 49). Some persons we saw declared that he 
had three specimens, but he himself says somewhere (I think in the c Isis ’) 
that he never procured any of this species. Possibly, therefore, they were 
sent after him to Eyrarbakki, and thence some two years afterwards to the 
Museum at Copenhagen. 
t We obtained information respecting the tides from a manuscript ac¬ 
count of Gulbringe-sysla, written about 1784, by the then Land-foged 
Skule Magnuseri, which was kindly lent to Mr. Wolley, and the account 
Was confirmed by the statements made to us by fishermen. 
