. Hand-book to the birds of Great Britain . y, one of the Orkneys, in1812. The male bird of this pair is now in the British August of 1821 or 1822, Fleming records a specimen sentto him from S. Kilda, and, according to the researches ofMr. Henry Evans, a bird of this species was captured in thesame group of islands about the year 1840. That the GreatAuk formerly had a more extended range in ancient timeshas been proved by the remains which have been found inCaithness and Argyll, and even as far south as some old sea-caves in Durham (cf. Saunders, Man. p. 682). Mr. Barrett-Hamilton ha
. Hand-book to the birds of Great Britain . y, one of the Orkneys, in1812. The male bird of this pair is now in the British August of 1821 or 1822, Fleming records a specimen sentto him from S. Kilda, and, according to the researches ofMr. Henry Evans, a bird of this species was captured in thesame group of islands about the year 1840. That the GreatAuk formerly had a more extended range in ancient timeshas been proved by the remains which have been found inCaithness and Argyll, and even as far south as some old sea-caves in Durham (cf. Saunders, Man. p. 682). Mr. Barrett-Hamilton has collected the evidence of the existence ofPlautus i?npe?i?iis in Ireland, where Mr. W. J. Knowles hasfound remains of the species on the coast of Antrim, alongwdth those of the horse, dog, or wolf, in conjunction withhuman remains believed to be those of the earliest Neolithic * For an epitome of the range and habits of the Great Auk, I amindebted to a pamphlet written by Mr. Thomas Parkin, and to Saunders Manual. PLATE CV. ~-K. GREAT AUK. GREAT AUK. 1 I 3 inhabitants of Ireland. Two other specimens were takennear the entrance of Waterford Harbour in May, other instances of the capture of the Great Auk havebeen recorded by Thompson, but confirmatory evidence islacking. Range outside the British Islands.—Iceland seems to havebeen the last known resort of the present species, whichappears at no time to have been an Arctic bird. Its boneshave also been discovered in the kitchen-middens of Den-mark, and the remains of the species discovered on FunkIsland, off Newfoundland, have been considerable. Habits.—The scanty notes on the habits of the Great Aukare derived from the accounts of early voyagers. Althoughincapable of flight, its diving powers are admitted to havebeen extraordinary. Like other flightless birds, it seems tohave been stupidly tame in its disposition, and this fact aloneaccounts for its rapid extermination. The bird captured a
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