THE GREAT AUK IN ART.
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be useless in flight, four inches from tip to first joint—Pennant, 1812. Great, feathers exceed not 3 inches in length, cannot raise into the air—Buffon, 1812. Very small in proportion to other birds, for subaquatic progression—Cuvier, 1817. Extremely small but perfectly formed—Audubon, 1840. Very small although formed of regular feathers, serve as fins when diving—Dallas, 1867. Like small duck—Seebohm, 1886. Rudimentary, useless fur flight; used in swimming and diving—Duchaussoy, 1897.
Feet.—She is whole-footed—Martin, 1697. Placed far behind, but very strong—Audubon, 1840.
Smithsonian Great Auk Skeleton.
Altitude and Mode of Progression.—Stands stately, its whole body erected—Martin, 1697. Can scarcely even walk; pace heavy and sluggish; lies stretched out on rocks and ice; erect attitude is painful—Buffon, 1812. Stood very erect, never flapped along water surface—Wooley, 1858. Only shuffled along—Seebohm, 1886.
After having compared the above descriptions, one is not inclined to criticize harshly the illustrations based upon them, except in cases where the author, after having carefully noted an important specific marking, entirely omits it in his drawing. The white spots on either side of the head of the great auk seem to have been a most serious stumbling-block to writers and artists alike. Martin, in 1697, states that the white spot is under the eye. No other description agrees with this, and the photographs of mounted skins show no such phenomenon
