Show fi fi Nature Gave Great Auk No Method of Defense The Great Auk Attic or gare fowl was the only bird In the northern hemisphere heads hemis phere that could not fly In general appearance It resembled the penguin It was about as lar large e as ns a goose was I black on Its lis head and hack and und white beneath Its legs were very tar fur hack back so ko It stood utmost almost upright having ha on onland land the appearance of sitting on Its tall tail It ranged l from the Hay flay of ot Biscay Bis cay cap to Greenland and was found In greatest numbers on certain rocky Islands Is ts lands tear near Iceland and Newfoundland It ft was quite tulle helpless against enemies on land and was wu killed largely for tor the thesa sa sake ke of Its feathers The last known example was as killed In ISH IS Its lis eggs are highly valued by collectors sometimes sometimes some some- times bringing as high as 1 IO There are only about seventy se examples exam exam- pIes ples known The great auk was the I biggest of a large family In the species ape p. cies cles comprising guillemots or and They breed In vast mixed communities on cliff ledges fron fres Greenland Iceland and j r the St Lawrence Maine and north western Europe They lay a large blotched egg Ig pointed at nt one end so It tends to roll in a circle thus no not falling from the ledge lede |