FRATERCULA ARCTICA.
Puffin.

Anas arctica, Ray, Syn., p. 120, A 5.
Alca arctica, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 211.
— labradora, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 550.
—— deleta, Briinn., Orn., no. 104 (young).
Fratercula, Briss. Orn., tom. vi. p. 81, pl. 6. fig. 2.
arctica, Flem. Brit. Anim., p. 130.
Plautus arcticus, Klein, Av., 146. 3.
Mormon arctica, Ill. Prod. Syst. Mamm. et Av., p. 284.
———_ Fratercula, Temm. Man. d’Orn., p. 614.
arcticus, Bonap. Geogr. and Comp. List of Birds of Eur. and N. ANHeIne DEG GF

 

 

Wuen the naturalist contemplates the infinite variety existing in nature, whether in the complicated
structures of inert minerals, the singular formation of the flowers of the Orchids, the grotesque forms and
colouring of fishes, or the vast diversity among birds, he cannot fail to be impressed with feelings of
admiration and delight, and must necessarily perceive that all these variations are intended to answer
some special end and purpose. Thoughts such as these crossed my mind when I took up my pen to
commence a history of the Puffin.

What a singular bird it is, this Parrot of the sea! as it has been called—one of the few members of a
genus forming part of a large family of aquatic birds, comprising the Puffins, the Auks, and the Guillemots,
the denizens of the northern hemisphere, as the Penguins are of the southern—two groups strictly antipodal,
and frequenters of the icy regions of the opposite portions of the globe. The further that intrepid navigator,
Sir James Ross, went south, the more numerous did he find the Penguins; and the further he proceeded
north, the more abundant were the Auks, the Puffins, and the Guillemots. But let us turn to the species
which makes our island its home during the summer months. At this period the Puffin visits all parts of
the kingdom that afford suitable situations for the performance of the task of incubation—rocky pro-
montories and high chalky cliffs. Here, among Willocks and Razorbills, Gulls and Cormorants, and their
usual attendant the Peregrine Falcon, it deposits its single large white egg in a natural fissure of the rock,
in a hole scratched for the purpose in the shelving and crumbly part of the cliff, or in the burrow of a rabbit,
who often disputes with him the right of occupation. When I wrote my ‘Birds of Europe,’ some thirty
years ago, the Puffin was plentiful at the Needles in the Isle of Wight, Beachey Head, Lulworth Cove, and all
similar localities along our southern coast; I fear, however, that few now come there to breed; but on the
shores of the other parts of our islands, from Scilly to Wales, from Flamborough to the Orkneys, on those
of Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the outermost Hebrides, it is still abundant. On the coasts of the European
continent it is, of course, far less numerous, for the simple reason that they afford few situations favourable
to it; still it does inhabit the seas which wash the shores of our neighbours, from Hammerfest to Gibraltar ;
and occasionally penetrates into the Mediterranean. The precise limits of its southward range, however,
are unknown.

I have mentioned that the Puffin comes to land for the purpose of breeding, and that it is only here in
summer; and I must now state that in winter it generally keeps to the salt water, but may occasionally
mount some rocky promontory; the ocean, however, is its proper element, over which it is scattered either
singly or in small companies, and constantly engaged in fishing for its daily food over the sunken sand-
banks or in the bays and inlets. Its diving- being much greater than its flying-powers, it is as much under
as above water, and rarely flies more than is just sufficient to transport it from one part of the sea to
another. How admirably adapted for such a life is its wedge-shaped bill, is close, glossy, and adpressed
plumage, its long and broadly webbed feet, and its small and feeble wings, which appear barely sufficient to
enable it to scale the perpendicular cliffs at the breeding-season !

Speaking of the breeding of the Puffin, Mr. Selby says, “ Many resort to the Fern Islands, ele Cue such
as are covered with vegetable mould; and here they dig their own burrows, from there not being any
rabbits to dispossess on the particular islets they frequent. They commence lus operation apout the first
week in May; and the hole is generally excavated to the depth of nue feet, often in a curving direction,
and occasionally with two entrances. When engaged in digging, ee principally performed by the
males, they are sometimes so intent upon their work as to aban of being taken by hand, as they also
may be during incubation: at this period I have frequently obtained specimens by thrusting my arm into the
burrow, though at the risk of receiving a severe bite from the powerful and sharp-edged bill of the old