Great Auk
Pinguinus impennis (Linnaeus, 1758) (6, 0) Category B
Artwork © By John James Audubon, Bird Artist of America. (1785-1851) - University of Pittsburgh, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2469236
STATUS
Extinct. Holarctic. North Atlantic. Monotypic.
OVERVIEW
Known to have bred on St Kilda with data as far back as 1684, but becoming rarer by 1758. Probably bred in the Orkneys, 1813. The Lundy attempt is doubtful. There is strong evidence of one caught on the Farne Islands prior to 1769.
Remains of the Great Auk have been found in the Orkneys, Caithness, Durham and Oronsay in the Inner Hebrides.
RECORDS
1). 1813 Orkney Fowl Craig, Papa Westray, two, one obtained, summer, now at Natural History Museum (Acc. No. NHMUK B.277a/1988.21.13).
(Montagu, 1813; Latham, 1821-28; Dunn, 1837; Yarrell, 1845; Yarrell, 1871-85; J. H. Gurney, jun., Naturalist 1: 186; Buckley & Harvie Brown, 1891; A. Newton, Ibis 1898: 587-592; H. F. Witherby & N. F. Ticehurst, British Birds 2: 331; A. L. Bond, British Birds 115: 234).
History Latham (1824 (10): 56-57) says: 'This bird was found by Mr. Bullock, during his summer excursion in 1813, in Papa Westray, one of the Orkney Islands; it was sufficiently familiar with the boatmen about those parts, but would not admit of his coming, as a stranger, within gun shot, though in their company; but afterwards suffering the boatmen, by themselves, to approach so near, as to knock it down with an oar. This specimen was in good preservation in Mr. Bullock's Museum. The sexes of this species are called King and Queen of Auks; and by some Gair- Fowls.'
Dunn (1837: 103-104) says: 'I have never seen a living specimen of this bird, nor do I believe it ever visits Shetland. I made inquiries at every place I visited, but no one knew it: had such a remarkable bird been seen there I must have heard of it. During my stay in Orkney, and while on a visit at Pappa Westra, I was informed by Mr. Trail, whom I had the pleasure of seeing two or three times, that a pair of these birds were constantly seen there for several years, and were christened by the people the king and queen of the Auks. Mr. Bullock on his tour through these islands, made several attempts to obtain one, but was unsuccessful; about a fortnight after his departure one was shot and sent to him, and the other then forsook the place. Mr. Trail supposed they had a nest on the island, but on account of its exposed situation the surf must have washed the eggs from the rocks, and thus prevented any further increase.'
Yarrell (1845 (3): 476-477, 2nd ed.) says: 'The natives in the Orkneys informed Mr. Bullock on his tour through these islands several years ago, that only one male had made its appearance for a long time, which had regularly visited Papa Westray for several seasons. The female, which the natives call the Queen of the Auks, was killed just before Mr. Bullock's arrival. The King, or male, Mr. Bullock had the pleasure of chasing for several hours in a six-oared boat, but without being able to kill him, for though he frequently got near, so expert was the bird in its natural element that it appeared impossible to shoot him. The rapidity with which he pursued his course under water was almost incredible. About a fortnight after Mr. Bullock had left Papa Westray, this male bird was obtained and sent to him, and at the sale of his collection was purchased for the British Museum, where it is still carefully preserved.'
J. H. Gurney, jun., of Northrepps (1876) in the new series of The Naturalist, Vol. I. p. 186, says: 'You may like to print the following extract from W. Bullock's guide to the London Museum, referring as it does to the only British-killed specimen of the Great Auk in existence. It is from the guide of 1814, not of course from the larger edition of 1813. "The Great Auk, or Northern Penquin. (Alca impennis). Of this rare and noble bird, we have no account of any having been killed on the shores of Britain, except this specimen, for upwards of one hundred years. It was taken at Papa Westra, in Orkney, to the rocks of which it had resorted for several years, in the summer of 1813, and was finely preserved and sent to me by Miss Trail, of that island, a lady to whom I am under considerable obligation for securing me many valuable and rare subjects from the Northern Isles, and much interesting information respecting their habits. I had the pleasure of examining this curious bird on its native element; it is wholly incapable of flight, but so expert a diver, that every effort to shoot it was ineffectual". The above extract occurs at p. 75, in a short catalogue of birds in separate cases. This Great Auk is in the British Museum.'
Admitted by Howard Saunders (1884-85 (4): 63, 4th ed.) in Yarrell's British Birds.
Admitted by H. F. Witherby & N. F. Ticehurst (1909) in British Birds, Vol. II. p. 331, under 'On the More Important Additions to our Knowledge of British Birds since 1899', who add: 'The late Professor Newton in an interesting article on the "Orcadian Home of the Garefowl" (Ibis, 1898, pp. 587-592) explains that the breeding place of the Great Auk was on the Holm of Papa Westray, and not in Papa Westray itself.
Professor Newton, in company with the late Henry Evans, Colonel Bolland, and Mr. Joseph Whitaker, landed on the Holm on June 27th, 1898, and visited the very spot which he thought must have been the "true home of the species whose extirpation, so far as Orkney is concerned, was compassed in 1813 by Bullock".'
3). 1822 Outer Hebrides St Kilda, caught alive, winter.
(Edinburgh Philosophical Journal 10: 96; Fleming, 1828; Yarrell, 1845; Gray, 1871; Yarrell, 1871-85; McWilliam, 1936).
History Fleming (1828: 130) says: 'Length 3 feet. Bill, dorsally, 3, in front of the nostrils 2.25; in the gape 4.5; depth 1⅝ inches; 7 ridges in the upper, and 11 in the lower mandible. Legs black. Irides chestnut; margin of the eye-lid black. Inside of the mouth orange. Head, back, and neck black, the latter with a brownish tinge. Quills dusky; secondaries tipped with white. Breast and belly white. In winter, the brownish-black of the throat and fore-neck is replaced by white, as I had an opportunity of observing in a living bird, brought from St Kilda, in 1822. - (See Edin. Phil. Jour., Vol. X. p. 97).'
Yarrell (1845 (3): 477, 2nd ed.) says: 'Dr. Fleming has noticed one taken at St Kilda, an island of the Outer Hebrides, in the winter of 1822.'
Gray (1871: 445) says: 'About ten years after Bullock's experience in Orkney, namely, in 1821 or 1822, the late Professor Fleming had an opportunity of seeing and describing a live specimen of the Great Auk, while visiting the island of Scalpa, at the entrance to East Loch Tarbert, in Harris.
The bird had been captured by Mr. McLellan, tacksman of Scalpa, sometime before, off St. Kilda. It was presented to Mr. Robert Stevenson, civil engineer, and taken on board the lighthouse yacht, but afterwards, while being indulged by its considerate owner with a swim in the sea, restrained by a cord fastened to one leg, it made its escape.'
Further, pp. 446-447, Gray adds: 'It was emaciated and sickly, but improved in condition in a few days, in consequence of being well supplied with fresh fish, and permitted to sport occasionally in the water, being secured by a cord to one leg. Even in this trammelled state, its natural movements while swimming or diving under water were so rapid as to have set all pursuit at defiance had the bird been free (Edinburgh Philosophical Journal Vol. X. p. 96).
As it was, its love of liberty eventually proved stronger than the cord by which that liberty was restrained, for during a subsequent washing, with which it considerately favoured, off the island of Pladda, to the south of Arran, it burst its bonds, and was seen no more for ever. Many years afterwards a dead specimen was found floating in the sea off the isle of Lundy, on the coast of South [North] Devon. Some have fondly fancied that this may have been Dr. Fleming's individual, but it would have been difficult to prove it so, and we believe that under the circumstances no claim was made....To return to Dr. Fleming's specimen, the following description of the species taken from that author's History of British Animals, becomes of great interest when we reflect that it is the only description given by any British writer from the living bird: - "Length, 3 feet; bill - dorsally 3, in front of the nostrils 2¼, in the gape 4½, depth 1⅝ inches; 7 ridges in the upper, and 11 in the lower mandible; legs black; irides, chestnut; margin of the eyelid, black; inside of the mouth, orange; head, back, and neck, black - the latter with a brownish tinge; quills, dusky; secondaries, tipped with white; breast and belly, white. In winter the brownish black of the throat and foreneck is replaced by white, as I had an opportunity of observing in a living bird brought from St. Kilda in 1822".'
Further, p. 447, in a footnote, Gray adds: 'In a manuscript list of the 'Birds of Renfrewshire', now before me, prepared many years ago by various members of the Philosophical Society of Paisley, I find the Great Auk included, on the authority of a Mr. Small who, as I have been informed, died in 1860.
On making inquiry at one of his personal friends, I find that some vague recollections of the bird, which was washed ashore dead near Gourock about fifty years ago, are yet entertained by the surviving compilers of the list. Mr. Small could not have mistaken any other bird for the Great Auk, as the list includes the Great Northern Diver - a species which is sometimes confused with it in districts where Gaelic names only are in use. If, therefore, Mr. Small's record be correct, and I have no reason to doubt it, may it not account for the ultimate fate of Dr. Fleming's specimen, Gourock being situated at a part of the Firth of Clyde likely to be visited by a bewildered bird from the coast of Arran, where this half-emaciated garefowl regained its freedom.'
Harting (1872: 71) says: 'One taken alive off St Kilda, 1821 or 1822, and examined by Dr. Fleming; afterwards escaped.'
Howard Saunders (1884-85 (4): 63-64, 4th ed.) in Yarrell's British Birds, says: 'In 1821 or 1822, Dr. Fleming, who accompanied Mr. Robert Stevenson on his annual lighthouse inspection, wrote as follows: - "When on the eve of our departure [18th August] from the island [Glass, more commonly known as Scalpa], we got on board a live specimen of the Great Auk (Alca impennis), which Mr. Maclellan, the tacksman of Glass, had captured some time before off St. Kilda. It was emaciated, and had the appearance of being sickly; but, in the course of a few days, it became sprightly, having been plentifully supplied with fresh fish, and permitted occasionally to sport in the water, with a cord fastened to one of its legs, to prevent escape. Even in this state of restraint it performed the motions of diving and swimming under water, with a rapidity that set all pursuit from a boat at defiance. A few white feathers were at this time making their appearance on the sides of the neck and throat, which increased considerably during the following week, and left no room to doubt that, like its congeners, the blackness of the throat feathers of summer is exchanged for white during the winter season" (Edinb. Phil. Journ., X. p. 96).
It has been stated, although upon insufficient evidence, that this bird afterwards escaped.'
McWilliam (1936: 137) says: 'A specimen obtained at St Kilda was being brought to Edinburgh in 1821, but escaped from the yacht in the Clyde, while it was being allowed to bathe, attached by a string.'
Comment Yarrell and MacGillivray mentioned another from St Kilda in 1829, but Harting (1872) thought it must refer to this specimen.
4). 1829 Devon Lundy, picked up dead, undated.
(E. Moore, Magazine of Natural History 1837: 360; Morris, 1863-67; Harting, 1872; D'Urban & Mathew, 1892).
History Morris (1863-67 (7): 172, reissue) says: 'Dr. Edward Moore has recorded one found dead on Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel, off the north coast of Devon, in the year 1829.'
Harting (1872: 71) says: 'One picked up dead off Lundy Island, 1829.'
Howard Saunders (1884-85 (4): 64-65, 4th ed.) in Yarrell's British Birds, says: 'The above appear to be the only authenticated instances of the capture of the Great Auk in the British Islands within the present century [19th]. These have been doubled by confused statements in various works; and there are also unsubstantiated records of the occurrence of this bird near Lundy Island.'
D'Urban & Mathew (1892: 424-425) say: 'A Great Auk is stated to have been picked up dead near Lundy Island in the year 1829. The original account, which appeared in Dr. E. Moore's 'Catalogue of the Web-footed Birds of Devonshire', published in the Magazine of Natural History, new series, Vol. I. p. 360, 1837, is as follows: - "Great Auk. Mr. Gosling, of Leigham, informed me that a specimen of this bird was picked up dead near Lundy Island in the year 1829; and Professor Jameson suggests that it might have been one which had been obtained by Mr. Stevenson at St. Kilda, and had escaped from the lighthouse keeper at Pladda, about that time, when on its way to Edinburgh (see Edinburgh New Phil. Trans. October 1831)".
Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jun., in The Zoologist (1868, p. 1446), remarks that "Mr. T. E. Gosling is more than once referred to as an ornithologist in Bellamy's Natural History of South Devon. This catalogue, written subsequently to Moore's, does not even allude to the Great Auk, from which we may infer Mr. Bellamy partly discredited the specimen said to have been washed ashore at Lundy Island". It should be remembered, however, that Bellamy's work related to the southern portion of the county only, and he might not have thought it necessary to allude to a bird said to have occurred in North Devon.'
5). c. 1838 Devon Lundy, seen, undated.
(M. A. Mathew, Zoologist 1866: 100-101).
History Murray A. Mathew of Weston-super-Mare (1866) in The Zoologist, 2nd series, Vol. I. pp. 100-101, dated 4th December 1865, says: 'My friend the Rev. H. G. Heaven, of Lundy Island, has given me permission to forward you the following extracts from a letter he wrote me relative to the last appearance of the great auk on that island:— "Lundy Island, September 6, 1865.
"With regard to your question whether we have ever seen the great auk, I must answer in the negative. There is strong presumptive evidence, however, that the great auk has been seen alive on the island within the last thirty years; at least I cannot imagine what other bird it was. The facts are as follows, and I must leave it to more experienced ornithologists to draw the conclusion:—In the year 1838 or 1839, as nearly as I can recollect,—not, however, more recently,—one of our men in the egging season brought us an enormous egg, wbich we took for an abnormal specimen of the guillemot's egg, or, as they are locally named, the 'picked-billed murr.'
This, however, the man strenuously denied, saying it was the egg of the 'king and queen murr,' and that it was very rare to get them, as there were only two or three 'king and queen murrs' ever on the island. On being further questioned he said they were not like the 'picked-bills,' but like the 'razorbilled murrs' (i.e. the razorbilled auk); that they were much larger than either of them; and he did not think they could fly, as he never saw them on the wing nor high up the cliffs like the other birds, and that they, as he expressed it, 'scuttled' into the water, tumbling among the boulders, the egg being only a little way above high-water. He thought they had deserted the island, as be had not seen them or an egg for (I believe) fifteen years till the one he brought to us; but that they (i.e. the people of the island) sometimes saw nothing of them for four or five years, but he accounted for this by supposing the birds had fixed on a spot, inaccessible to the eggers from the land, for breeding purposes. The shell of the egg we kept for some years, but unfortunately it at last got broken. It was precisely like the guillemot's egg in shape, nearly, if not quite, twice the size, with white ground and black and brown spots and blotches. We have never, however, met with bird or egg since, but as the island has become since that time constantly and yearly more frequented and populous, it may have permanently deserted the place. The man has been dead some years now, being then past middle age, and I think he had been an inhabitant of the island some twenty-five or thirty years. He spoke of the birds in such a way that one felt convinced of their existence, and that he himself had seen them, but he evidently knew no other name for them than 'king and queen murrs,' wbich he said the islanders called them 'because they were so big, and stood up so bold-like.' In colour they were also like the 'razorbilled murr.' Nobody, he said, had ever succeeded in catching or destroying a bird, as far as he knew, because they were so close to the water, and scuttled into it so fast. The existence of these birds bad been traditional on the island when be came to it, and even the oldest agreed there were never more than two or three couple. He himself never knew of more than one couple at a time."
As anything bearing upon the history of a bird now most probably extinct is of interest I thought you would like to have these notes for insertion in the Zoologist.'
6). 1848 Outer Hebrides Stack an Armin, St Kilda, killed, undated.
(J. Steele-Elliot, Zoologist 1895: 285; Saunders, 1899; Baxter & Rintoul, 1953).
History J. Steele Elliot (1895) in The Zoologist, 3rd series, Vol. XIX. p. 282, says: 'The old grey-haired man, Lachlan McKinnon, mentioned by Mr. Dixon as having taken part in stoning to death a Great Auk in Stack-an-Armin, was, I am sorry to say, dying when I left the island. An interview with him during my stay would have been useless, as I was informed that his memory had left him for some time. The natives told me of a ledge on Soa named after the bird which it is said to have frequented in the breeding season.'
Saunders (1899: 697-698, 2nd ed.) says: 'Mr. Henry Evans, during his visits to the St Kilda group, collected strong evidence that about 1840 a bird was secured on the grassy slopes of Stack-an-Armin, and was killed three days afterwards as a witch, in consequence of a storm which frightened its captors.'
Comment Apparently, this date has been well researched especially by John Love, who states that there is sufficient evidence to conclude that the actual date was in fact 1848 (https://status.outerhebrides-birdreports.org/category/auks/great-auk).
