Table of Contents

Introduction - Who killed the Great Auk?
1: This rare and noble bird
2: Geirfuglasker: The Icelandic bird skerries
3: Travels with Audubon in Labrador
4: Westward ho!
5: A visit to Funk Island
6: Books of authority
7: Wild foulis biggand - The Great Auk on St. Kilda
8: The New-Found-Land
9: Uncouth regions
10: Mercenary and cruel
11: The old wisdom of the Faeroe Islands
12: In search of the Great Auk
13: Last appearances
14: Generation after generation
15: Bird protection: A pressing need
16: An Act of Parliament
Epilogue
Appendices: Description of the Great Auk based on a specimen acquired by Audubon in London; Discussion of Great Auk nomenclature; Abridged version of the Act for the Preservation of Sea Birds, 1869; The Victorian egg collectors.

About the Author

Jeremy A. Gaskell, c/o A M Gaskell, Lyndale, Luxborough, Watchet, Somerset, TA23 0SJ impennis44@hotmail.com Jeremy Gaskell's interest in the Great Auk dates from his teens, when he first planned a visit to its traditional breeding grounds in Iceland. An active ornithologist, he has travelled as far afield as Thailand, and has also acquired extensive knowledge of the birds of the Middle East. He is the author of a number of articles and academic papers on subjects
as diverse as the early history of British ornithology, and seabird identification. In 1998 he broadcast a history of the Great Auk on the BBC World Service.

Reviews

`"This little book is a fitting memorial to the lost penguin of the northern seas. It's a labour of love."'
Evening Standard, Monday 27th November 2000