GREAT AUK
33. Plautus impennis. 29 inches.
This largest of the auks lived, as far as we have authentic record, until 1844, when it became extinct, largely through the agency of man. Although nearly twice as long a bird as the [Razor-billed Auk], their wings were shorter than those of that bird, being only a trifle longer than those of the little Dovekie; they were flightless, but the wings were used to good advantage in swimming. Being in the direct line of travel between the old world and the new, sailors, on passing vessels, killed countless numbers of them for food, and in some cases merely for the love of slaughter. They lived on coasts and islands of the Atlantic from Mass., northwards. There are about seventy mounted birds preserved, of which five or six, as well as some skeletons, are in this country.
Their eggs resemble those of the Razor-bill but, of course, are much larger (5.00 × 3.00). About 70 of these are in existence, six being in this country (Washington, Phila., and four recently purchased by John E. Thayer, of Lancaster, Mass.).
