Pp. 448, more than 400 plates - 200 in color. Publisher's blue cloth, lettered in gilt on the spine, color pictorial dust jacket, sm folio (12 x 9 3/4 inches). This is the first American edition. Records show the Great Auk became extinct in 1844. This volume covers all aspects of its morphology, natural history, life cycles and prehistory. It also contains a detailed record of possible sightings long its recorded extinction date. There is a catalog of every known specimen and surviving eggs.