«7, ae te deposited: in size it nearly equalemim :

At the further end of the hole the single egg 1s deposited: in size it nearly eq als that of a pullet,
i i ino acute % > others both ends are equally o 7

but varies much in form, some being acute at one é jually obtuse. Its

colour, when first laid, is white ; but it soon becot

no materials being collected for a nest at the end of the burrow.

d with a long blackish down above,
ks they are able to quit the burrow and follow their

bird. ee
end, while in

nes soiled from its immediate contact with the earth,
The young are hatched after a month’s
incubation, and are then covere which soon gives place to the feathered

:

plumage ; so that at the end of a month or five wee
parents to the open sea. Soon after this time, or about the second week 1n August, the whole leave our

coasts on their equatorial migration... ++ On
‘ore a boat can approach within
and narrow wings to their utmost power for the

the Puffin is more wary than the Guillemot,
gun-shot. It flies rapidly, but not to

the water

generally taking wing or diving bef
any great distance at once, being obliged to employ its short
support of its body, which is heavy in proportion to its dimensions.”

« By far the most abundant species in St. Kilda,” says Macgillivray, “ is the Puffin, which breeds in the
erences of the rocks as well as in artificial burrows in almost every situation, sometimes at a considerable
distance from the water’s edge. It is taken by the fowlers in two ways,—when on the nest, by introducing
the hand and dragging out the bird, at the risk of a severe bite ;
of horsehair attached to a slender rod, generally formed of bamboo-cane. ‘The latter mode is most successful
the Puffins then sit best upon the rocks, allowing a
taken in the course of the day by an expert bird-catcher ... .

and when sitting on the rocks, by a noose

in wet weather, as person to approach within a few
yards ; and as many as three hundred may be
The Puffin forms the chief article of food with the St. Kildians during the summer months, and is usually
cooked by roasting among the ashes.”

It has not been very clearly ascertained how far the
its range extends beyond the neighbourhood of the North Cape in Europe or the southern part of Green-
I suspect that a nearly allied species, the Fratercula olacialis, take

Puffin proceeds in a northerly direction, or whether

s it place in those regions; for Mr.

land.
Alfred Newton, during his recent visit to Spitzbergen, found the bird so called, and not the present one, in
that inhospitable country. On the authority of Professor Baird, I give the northern portion of America as
one of the habitats of our bird. It appears to be the commonest species of the two in Iceland; and in the
Feeroes it is exceedingly abundant.

The Puffin is subject to precisely the same kind of sez
in the Auks and the Guillemots. The black throat-mark being
yish white; the colour of the bill, which is clear and vivid in the

isonal changes in its plumage as those which take place
peculiar to summer, the whole of the throat

at the opposite season is either white or gre
clouded, and the yellow at the angle of the mouth less prominent or dilated. The bill
, the first costume of black down, differs but little from that of the

it is not, however, until the second year

spring, becomes more
of very young birds, while dressed it
young Guillemot ; but it soon begins to resemble that of the adult ;

that it attains the full normal form. For what particular purpose can the strong hooked claws of this bird

nto it? Is it for clinging to the branches of seaweed and corallines during its search for

have been give
yr to enable the bird to excavate the

crustaceans and other aquatic creatures at the bottom of the deep, ¢
hole for the deposit of its egg? I think the former is the more likely reason, because the bird does not,
I believe, confine itself to fish, although it is upon that kind of food that its newly hatched young are mostly
fed. How often have I seen a lengthened row of silver sprats hanging from the beak of an old bird, when
flying in a straight line just above the surface of the water towards the rocks, upon which the young were
patiently waiting! How evenly were they arranged along th bill, from the gap to the tip! How beau-
tifully they glittered in the sun!

The Plate represents an adult, and a young bird of a week old, of the natural size. The distant scenery
is intended to represent one of the “ rookeries” of Guillemots and Razorbills, which, with Puffins, make

up the general mass. The bird in the air is the Peregrine Falcon.