Who Killed the Great Auk? by Gaskell, Jeremy - 2000

Oxford, England: Oxford Univ Press. New in New dust jacket. 2000. First Printing. Hardcover. The Great Auk is one of the world's best known extinct birds. On land it was clumsy and awkward, but in the sea, where it spent a large part of the year, it was perfectly adapted for swift and efficient movement. By the beginning of the 19th century sightings of the bird had become rare and only a few decades later even the most assiduous explorers could not find it. What happened to the Great Auk? The author pieces together all of the important historical data and takes us on a tour of some of the wildest and most remote communities on earth. We travel to Labrador, the Scottish Island of St. Kilda, Newfoundland, and follow intrepid naturalists as they put to sea in search of the very last of the Great Auks. Includes appendices, bibliography and index. ; 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall; BIBLIO .