Byron Vinegar, age 12, of Louisville, Ky., for his question:

WHAT IS AN AUK?

The great auk, or garefowl, is now extinct. He used to live on the coasts of the North Atlantic and was sometimes seen on the shore s, of New England. About the size of a goose, the bird was killed in such large numbers by hunters that the species died out in the 1840s.

The smaller swimming and diving bird called the auk is found today along the northern seacoasts. He's a poor flier and is clumsy on land, but he can swim rapidly underwater. He lives on fish.

In the spring the auk comes from the northern Atlantic and Pacific to the coasts to nest. He builds homes along the cliffs and lives in large colonies that may contain many thousands of birds. The female will lay one or two eggs on the bare rock in a crevice on one of the cliff ledges.