There are more ways than ever to listen to History Daily ad-free.

Listen with Wondry Plus in the Wondry app.

As a member of NoisorPlus at noisor.com or in Apple Podcasts,

or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history podcasts at IntoHistory.com. It's June 1858 in Rakenus, a small headland on the southwestern coast of Iceland.

29-year-old English explorer and ornithologist Alfred Newton makes his way carefully down a rock-strewn slope

to the black volcanic beach below. Alfred has a limb, and he leans heavily on a cane as he descends,

but his companion, 35-year-old John Woolley, has no such difficulties, and he's already on the sand.

As a cascade of stones skids out from beneath his boots, Alfred slides the last few

feet onto the beach. He catches hold of John's shoulder to stop himself from toppling over.

The two men give each other a small nod and then go to work. They come here looking for something

very rare and special, a flightless bird called the Great

Awk. This bird was once common along the Atlantic coastlines of Northern Europe and America,

but there have been a few reported sightings in recent years. Alfred and John have spent several

months traveling across Iceland, and they've tracked the last known location of the Great

Auckland to this remote

spot. Even at this time of year, the volcanic coastline is buffeted by cold and stormy weather,

but the tall cliffs offer some protection from the wind as the two men set off in search of the

birds. With their long bodies, hooked beaks, and striking black and white plumage,

the Great Oaks should be easy to spot.

At 30 inches tall, they stand roughly the height of a two-year-old child.

But after searching the shoreline, Alfred and John find no sign of the birds.

As they make their way back along the beach, Alfred's cane strikes something hard and white in the sand.

...