THE GREAT AUK'S EGG.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 7865, 16 May 1891, Page 6

THE GREAT AUK'S EGG.

The great auk (Alca impennis) is a bird which Has become extinct within historic times It belongs to the group of the divine birds with short wings. The auks belonged exclusively to the Northern hemisphe- \ their place in the corresponding Southern latitudes being taken by the penguins. Like these, they had a cfense plumage, polished, and presenting an appearance almost like fish scales. The great auk was about three feet in height, ana inhabited the temperate parts of the North Atlantic At one time large numbers bred on St y Kilda, and may have frequented the other islands of the Hebrides. It was occasionally met with in the Orkney and Shetland Islands, up till about 1812. Its remains have been found also in the pre-historic Danish kitchen middens. The last groat auk is supposed to have been killed on Eldey Skerry, off the coast of Iceland, in 1844. In North American islands it bred in great numbers on Funk. Its remains have been found in shell heaps at several places on the coast of Maine and Massachusetts. The great auk was invaluable as food, and but for the abundant fresh supplies afforded by its carcases to the early voyagers, the fisheries of the banks of Newfoundland could hardly have been as successful as they became. The birds were so stupid that they sat still until they were knocked over by the seamen's clubs, or allowed themselves to be driven on board the vessels in hundreds across planks stretched from the gunwales to the shore. On this account, therefore, it has shared the fate of the dodo, of the moa, and of many another fur and feather wearer when they have encountered civilisation. The great auk laid one egg every year about 5 inches in length and 3 in greatest breadth. Thie egg was beautifully marked, and was deposited, not in a nest, but in the hollow of the rocks of its dreary home. In 1887 there were only 66 auks' eggs in existence, 72 skins, and about 40 of its bones in various collections. The eggs have been repeatedly sold at auction for over £100. In 1887 one was sold for J6160, and on the 12th March, 1888, another realised at auction in London £225. The specimen, which has been in New Zealand for nearly fifty years, and belonged to the late Air Potts, now goes back to England, having been purchased for £200 on behalf of a priv ate collector. As will be seen by advertisement elsewhere, it will be on view in the Museum for a few days. As there is little chance that such a rarity will ever be seen in New Zealand again, those who are interested in natural history should take the opportunity of seeing the egg before it goes away.