PUFFINUS ANGLORUM. Manx Shearwater. Procellaria Anglorum, Raii Syn., p. 134, Pufinus Anglorum, Briss. Orn., tom. vi. jo WSi,, Procellaria puffinus, Briinn. Orn. Bor., p. 20. Nectris Anglorum, Kuhl, Mon. Proc. Beit. Zool., p. 146, Puffinus arcticus, Fab. Prod, Is]. Orn., p. 56. Cymotomus Anglorum, Macgill. Man. of Brit. Or n.,vol. ii. Daelloe Nectris puffinus, Keys. & Blas. Wirb. Eur. Pe Oae ee Tuerre are but few situations in the British Is] little inlets around our coasts, that are Isles of Scilly on the south, the Far ands which are of a rocky natur not visited by the Shearwater n Islands on the east, Lundy Orkneys, Shetlands, and Hebrides and St. Kilda in the North Atlantic are only a few of the localities fr It is also found in Iceland, in the Faroe Islands, Spitzbergen, on the coast of Norw Heligoland, on the coasts of France and Spain e and facing the sea, nor any ; and in many of them it breeds: the and the Isle of Man on the west, the equented. ay, in the Baltic Seas, in , and throughout the whole of the Mediterranean, in Madeira, the Azores, and on many parts of the eastern shores of North America. During some periods of its existence it lives far out at sea, at others within soundings. At the period of incubation it makes a cradle for its young in the deserted rabbit-holes on the low islands and shores in which those creatures abound, the lee sides of great stones near the beach, the crevices in upright basaltic rocks, and all similar situations. of flight are considerable, and, being very restless, it line over the surface of the water. The late D. W. Mitchell’s account of the bird as seen by him on the coast of Cornwall is given with all the freshness of his wonted style, and with the faithfulness and geniality of a true lover of nature. This account I shall repeat here, believing that it will not be the less inter in my late friend Yarrell’s ‘ History of British Birds.’ Its powers spends much of its time in flying to and fro in a direct esting because it has previously appeared **To the westward of St. Agnes, in the Scilly grou , lies a barren island called Annet. Its northern slope § y group is abrupt and craggy ; it gradually slopes towards the south, and narrows into a sort of peninsula, where the sandy soil is rich enough to produce a dense growth of short ferns. Here is the stronghold of the Shear- water. Sit down on a rock which commands the little territory, and you will see nothing but the Terns, who have a station on the higher and central part of the island, and are making a flight of inquiry. Yes, you will see a hundred or two of Oystercatchers, who do not like your landing so near their nests, and make short journeys, hither and thither, whistling all the while like birds possessed. You will see two or three pairs of Turnstones and a few Ring-Dotterels, perhaps a Curlew. You may wait all a sunny day in June, but not a Shearwater will you see on land or water. There are plenty near you all the time, however, as you may ascertain by the odour which issues from the first burrow you look into among the ferns. As soon as the sun is down, you will see a little party of five or six flitting silently across the sound, or steering out to sea. The ’ ee : es ; ix miles away, with latest fishers from the colony of Terns are coming home from the sandy shallows, five or six miles away, | : rapwaters | valk ull not see them their throats and beaks crammed with Lance-fish, when the Shearwaters begin to wake. ie ne . : : NTS a roack @ vater- i 5: st catch sie 2 : pe round the corner of a rock close to the w come out of their holes: you first catch sight of them skimming et a . ee he Serv e evening in . Perhaps they will have a great gathering, such as I observed one evening =e Big oe e . . re i. > 7 , —~ ro NAY ~ 2 gregati f at least three hundred in the middle of the tideway, washing, dipping, preening ; oa oon ore : : ano ready for a night’s diversion. As I wanted a few and stretching wings, evidently just awake, and making ready for a nig : 2% a : < - boat well up to them, and, when they rose, got specimens more than I had dug out of the burrows, I ran my bo P : | pred pee : a < er yinged, anc i Silt as many as I wished, besides a few unfortunate cripples who w ae , § ; g ; ee ee. nk a good dog é 7 : : oe Pe +h for my boatmen. think a g 2 in swimming and diving, a good deal too much oe ee 5 oO They sit low in the water, and make no noise wh : ; allowe to come quite close. ee J: Bagge they allowed me : Scillonian synonyms of Crew and Cocka ; : : pi snough, the disturbed, though in their holes they are ee enoug - th when the spade approaches the end in : : ; ies ay pour forth whe : : - derived from the guttural melodies they ] oe eed thodon being derived g a pair in a burrow who were crooning a duet of this kind c c which the egg is deposited. I once caught as there was no egg. They ; i 2 ere I honeymoon before we commenced operations. I presume they were z a ae ee ae ‘resh-laid, is of the most dazzling W S, y be shen fresh-laid, is of t e ee ie ms i igth, by one inch and nine lines in breadth, is very ; s . Ov « ar r 3 fine sandy soil without any preparation, When you kill a Shearwater produce but one egg, which, be texture. It measures two inches and five lines in ler ae . se Pais »posited on t large for the size of the bird, and is frequently deposi ] 1 -n-leaves and old stems. though generally there is a slight accumulation of fern-leaves <