AUGUSTUS, Mausoleum of, a circular structure of huge diameter (280 feet), built of white marble and covered by a mound of earth, on which were planted evergreen trees. At the summit of the mound, among the shrubbery, was placed a colossal bronze statue of Au gustus, who had caused the mausoleum to be built, 2S B.C. On each side of the portal stood an obelisk, still preserved in the Piazza der Esqualino and the Piazza del Quirinale. Within were interred the great Romans honored by the Emperor, the first being young Manaus and the last Nerva, 98 A.D. Later the structure was allowed to fall into ruins, was for a time used as a bull ring and a circus and now only the brick shell is visible.
AUK, ak, a diving sea-fowl of the family Alcide found in the northern regions, the term covering guillemots, mums, lomvias, puffins and others. They are thick-set birds, seldom more than a foot long, which move about with difficulty on land, from the fact that their legs are set very far back, giving them an erect, penguin-like attitude. In color they are dark brown, black or lead-color above, and white be neath, except in the breeding season, when bright colors and ornamental plumes tempora rily appear on the males of some species. The wing-feathers are so short as to be of little service for flight, and the wings are more used as aids in swimming under water, where they pursue fishes with great speed. The bill is much compressed, but in the breeding season, among the puffins, which show the most marked compression of bill at other times, the bills increase in size and develop orna mental appendages which disappear as the moulting season comes on. The most
important north Atlantic auks are the now-extinct great auk (plantar imprimis) which was as large as a goose and within historic times abounded as far south as the Hebrides (see GAREFOWL) ; the little auk (Alle auk), not larger than a robin and very abun dant, sometimes in winter coming as far south as New York and the Great Lakes (see Dove xiE) ; and the razor-billed auk (Alta torda), which has a bill of remarkable length and sharpness, and which breeds even as far south as the Maine coast (see Mumma.Er; PUFFIN; 1W-oat-BILL). The auk lays only a single large egg, which, as no nest is prepared, the parents care for by holding upon the top of their webbed feet and between their thighs. These eggs are a staple food for the natives of the Arctic regions, as are the birds, also. They are taken in summer and preserved for winter use, as in the autumn the auks migrate from the frozen coasts and spend the winter in the open spaces of the sea. Consult American and British urnithologies; and Grieve, 'The Great Auk> (London 1885) ' • Stejneger, 'Bul letin of the United States National Museum No. 29> (1885) ; 'Harriman Alaska Expedition' (Vol. II, New York 1902) ; Selous, 'Bird Watching' (London 1901).