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Notice of the Remain's of the Great Auk, Or 76 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, JANUARY 13, 1879. I. E REMAIN'NOTICE GREATH TH F F O ETO S AUK GARE-FOWLR O , , (ALGA IMPENNIS, LINN".), FOUND IN CAITHNESS; WITH NOTES OF ITS OCCURRENCE IN SCOTLAND AND OJ? ITS EARLY HISTORY. BY JOHN ALEXANDER SMITH, M.D., SECRETARY S.A. SCOT.. &c , As one of the editors of the " Proceedings" of the Society, I pre- e varioupareth e lisf th o dt s donation e meetin th e Societ r th fo f sg o y held in January 1867 ("Proceedings," vol. vii.), and gave a rough summary of the collection of stone, bone, and metal implements, also portions of human skeletons and animal remains found at Keiss, Caithness; which Samuel Laing, Esq., M.P., F.S.A. Scot, so kindly and judiciously presented for preservation to our National Museum of Antiquities. Full detail f mano s f theso y e specimens were given, illustrated by numerous figures, in the work published by the donor, entitled "Prehistoric Remains of Caithness, by Samuel Laing, Esq., M.P., and P. S. A. Scot.; with Notes on the'Human Remains, by Thomas H. Huxley, Esq., F.R.S., Professor of Natural History, Royal Schoo f Mineso l , London, 1866. n preparinI " e noteth g f thio s s dona- tior presfo n I stoo k advantag e woodcutth f o e r Lain M sd use ha gd books hi alsd n an oi , most liberally hande dkeepingr oveou o gavrt d an , e along with them, as I have said, a short summary of the various remains. When, however afterwardd ha ,I n opportunita s f lookinyo g ovee rth animal remains more carefully, after they had come into our possession, I was fortunate enough to find one which- from its peculiar shape had been supposed to have been artificially formed into a hammer, and had been overlooked when the other bones were examined and named by Professor Richard Owen of the British Museum. This hammer-lik s reallwa e a yportioe horbona reindeew th f sa no f eI o n r (Cervus tarandm). Accordingly I afterwards described and figured it, d gavan e some e occurrencnoteth n Reindeee so th f o e Scotlann i r a n di paper read before the Society in June 1869 (" Proceedings," vol. viii.). REMAIN CAITHNESSN GREAE I TH K F TAU SO . "77 Since that time I have brought before the Society notices of some of the other extinct animals of Scotland, as the Elk (Cenus alces), the Irish Horn of Reindeer (Germs tarmidus) found at Keiss, Caithness. , Front1 , Bac2 ; k vie Horf wo n , Mark a ; f Cuttingso . Elk (Mer/aeeros Jfibernieus), and the " Ancient Cattle of Scotland," pub- "r Proceedings.ou lishe f o voln . di ix . alsI " o brought befor Societe eth y some notes of the bear, and the more doubtful rhinoceros ("Proceed- ings," vol. ix. p. 636), as having left some remains in Scotland ; these, I regret to say, I have not been able as yet to publish in the "Proceedings." t mighf I somo e eb t little interest thes o I ,t thought d e Noticead o t , s of Extinct Animal Scotlandn si noticGreae a , th f eto Auk r "o ,Pengui n bees North,e oha th f n t i nameds "a , which would appea havo rt e become nearly if not altogether extinct in our own day; more especially as several bone f thiso s bird foun t Keissda Caithnessn i , , have also been addeo dt ou rpublishee Museumth s a d dan , referenc r Laing'theo et M mn i s work does little more than include them in the list of animal remains, with the notes, that,—"We are indebted to Professor Owen for the important identificatio Alcae th f no impennis, grear o t auk,"—"The most interesting e discoverth fac e "Alcas i th t f yo impennis" extincw whicno n s hi ti Europe, havin t latelgbu yn Icelandi diet t saiou d bu o survivt ,d n i e Greenland s boneIt e frequen. e Danisar s th n i ht Kjokkenmo'ddings, where they have been though implo t t y great antiquit mora d eyan glacial 78 PliOCEEDlNG THF SO E SOCIKTY, JANUARY 13, 1879. climate, but it is believed that they have never been found in any tumuli or deposit a late f o sr date than these primaeval middens. Hence their discover Caithnese th n yi s middens afford n importana s t lin f connecko - tion with those of Denmark, and strengthens the evidence of high antiquity drawn fro rudenese mth implementse th f so , I.e.).50 . "(p I need not stop here to say that, of course, this argument might tell both ways; even from the presence of the recently living auk to the recent age of the middens; but into this subject I shall not enter here. Then, in our "Proceedings," vol. vii., already referred to, I have done little more than repeat the figures of the auk's bones, with a short reference to them; no detailed description being give shoo nt w what they really were. Accordingly, some time ago I ,collecte d variou ssubjec e noteth n f so o t the great auk, and I now bring them before you; to supply this lack of information alsd correco oan t , printer'a t s mistake r Laing'M n i ,s book, e afterwardtob s explained (whic wanr hfo f prope o t r knowledge th t ea times r repeateou wa , n i d " Proceedings ");—as wels a l also to add the notice of an- other example, to my list of Scottish animal appaw no s - rently extinct. osseoue Th s remaine th f o s auk r Laing'figureM n i ds book boneo consistw f f so o t honee o th wintw e f so th d gan leg. I repeat his figures here. The bones of the wing con-- humerua sis f o trighe th f tso wing, and a humerus of the , „ m m-, • ±, r, ^ii wing of this bird, both per- il, Two Humeri; and 2, Two Tibis e fof the Great ° ' . l Au leaA k( impennis) foun kitchea n di n mid- feet, each measuring 4 inches de Caithnessn ni . (Hal naturae th t l size.) in lengtll ' (woodcut . No1) . e lefe legThosa th tibith t ,f d f o ao aree an e righ a .tibith g f le to a REMAINS OF THE GREAT AUK IN CAITHNESS. 79 (woodcu . 2)l thesal ;No t e bones might have helonge same th eo d t bird . One of the.leg bones is whole and measures 5 inches in length; the other is broken, the lower articulation being wanting. Ther , howevereis , anothe boneg le r , als otibiaa , rather smalle n sizi r e than the others, and belonging to the left leg of the bird; with its lower extremity also broken off. Professor Owen, from tnbxsmaller size of this bone, think havy s ema tha belonget i t femala o dt e bird thad e an th ;t othe larged an r r bones were thos malea e alsf H eo o . make e remarsth k that it was the first time that bones of this nearly-extinct species had been foun Britainn di . Whe r JosepnM h Anderson becam e Curator Museumth eou f o r e h , informed me (being fully cognisant of all the remains found at Keiss) that a portion of the mandible, or bill, of the great auk had also been found. From curioua s printer's mistak woodcua e f thio t s bone (there s shorr Lainbeinhi M e bonetu referenco g y i gth n notb f f t so o i e o t e the great aukd beeha )n take s representina n g "apparentl ya smal l curved spear-head made from the conchoidal fracture of a piece of sand- stone from the beach," and associated with the woodcut of another stone beed ha no spear-headprintetw e n i th d 5 d together4 an , d an s figs4 a , 4 . Mr Laing's book, as having been found in the "Birkle Hill Kist." Following this example ignorancy m n i , eI als o repeatee th e cut f dth so two supposed spear-heads from the Birkle Hill Kist. (" Proceedings," vol. vii.) On making a search among the animal remains, accordingly, we found this bone, part of the premaxillary or upper mandible of the bird, with Professor Owen's label stilI hav w d l eno attache an , it o t d pleasure th repeatinf eo e figur t gherei th f o e , wit s correchit t designation. Upper mandibl Greaf eo t Auk. (Hal naturae th f l size.) Professor memoiOwen s Gare-fowle hi th n "i n e , o rTransactionth n i , s Zoologicae oth f l Society, f thio sd paper"en notice e th , addt da nota s e 0 8 PUOCEUDING SOCIETYE TH F O S , JANUARY 13, 1879. referrin r Samuee specimenM th y o b t gl m Lainshi sen go t tfro m Caithness saye H s": . Amongs bonee tth bird f so thin si s kitchen midden, including e Gannethosth f eo t (Sula bassana), Shag (Phalacrocorax gra- culus), Cormorant (Phalacrocoraxcarbo), and Eazor-bill (Alcatorda), were the following bones of the Gare-fowl (Alca impennis, L.)—the anterior or free extremity of the premaxillary ; a right and a left humerus; a left tibia ; and parts of three other tibiae, left and right.
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