Hopkinsville Kentuckian., 1890-11-14
BASSETT eco.
VALUABLE EGGS.
Precious Relies OF the Once Numerous
Great Aux, or Gsre-Fowl.

Precious Relies OF the Once Numerous
Great AUX. or Gsre-Fowi.
In 1883 an egg OF the great aux was
sold for 100 guineas, whilst more ro-
Gently an egg OF the samo species
fetched f2a5. Although these may seem
enormous sums to give for relic. the
transactions are not without others to
keep them In countenanco. Only a few
years ago two eggs Of the sam. kind
fetched 100 and i02 guineas.respectivel
while the egg first named realized \
little over twenty years ago f3S l0s.
At that time 10 was discov-
cred, together with four Others.
packed away In a dust-covered box in
the museum nj the Royal College Of Sur
geons, these being sold In lscS. From
this 10 would seem that In the orni-
biological market the complete she'll OF
q great auk's egg is worth nearly el7o,
and broken one only $40 less. twill
be seen that tho purchase OF ono Of
these may be good investment and
what mino OF wealth great aux that
was good layer might prove to his
fortunate posscssor can only 10 con-
jectured. At the present time the num-
Der of eggs Of this species known 10 exist
Is sixty-six-twenty-fvo OF which are in
museums and forty-one in private col
lcctions; Of the total number forty
three are retained In Great Britain,
When bird becomes 30 rare that the
individual remains can be counted, the
same may be- taken 10 be practically ex-
tinct rs species The great aux has
pursued policy Of extinction for the
past two or three centuries, until now,
like the mighty moa and the dodo. 1t
has ceased to exist The great aux, or
gare-fowl, was one OF those birds which,
from long disuse, had lost at once the
power Of flight and preservation. ID
was great shambling bird, as large as
q goose, and ili-adapted TO travel on
land. How these things told against IT
may be inferred from the story Of one
Captain Richard Whitbourne, who.
writing OF the discovery Of New
foundland In 1890, says THAI
among the abundant water fowl OF these
parts arc penguins great auks) ''as
bigge as geese, and nye not for thoy
have but short wing, and they multi
ply 10 infinitely. upon certain fat
island, that men drive them from thence
upon boord, into their boats by hun
dreds at time" This process Of ex-
tinction went on in Iceland and else.
where until about the middle Of the
present century hardly any birds re-
mained. The Icelanders robbed the
auks Of their oggs for domestic use, and
upon one occasion the crow of British
prlvateer remained upon one OF the
Skerries all day killing many
birds and treading down their eggs
and young. This went on until
the last birds we're taken, and there
is but the faintest hope that 1t may yet
linger on In the inaccessible North.
Although awkward and travelling with
thc'greatost difficulty on land, the great
aux was perfectly at home in the water.
and travelled both upon and under tho
surface with the rapidity Of fish. Tho
timc Of haunting the land was during
the breeding season, in carly summer.
At this period the aux resorted to the
rocks, in tho dark recesses OF which the
females deposited one large egg-large
even for the sizo Of the bird. These
had u whitish green ground, streaked
with brown, and nearly Ave inches in
length. Spectator.