PUFFIN, OR COULTERNEB. 543 



of Great Britain, as well as in the Shetland and Orkney 

 Isles, they likewise breed in large communities ; as, at the 

 Farn Isles off the coast of Northumberland, Priestholra 

 Isle, near Anglesea, the small islands off St. David's in 

 Wales, the Isle of Wight, the cliffs of Beachy Head, Dover, 

 Scarborough, and in the vicinity of Holyhead, They were 

 also found by Audubon on the sterile and dreary coast of 

 Labrador, but not beyond Brador ; they also probably inhabit 

 the coasts of Newfoundland, and in the winter are seen 

 in great numbers in the Bay of Fundy. They are little 

 more than stragglers on the coast of New England, but pro- 

 ceed in the course of the season as far south as Carolina, 

 according to Catesby. In Europe they are also seen on the 

 coasts of Andalusia in Spain. 



In England, at Priestholm Isle, they are seen in flocks 

 innumerable. They assemble and begin to visit the island 

 early in April, but do not commence their incubation until 

 the first week in May. They make no proper nest, but 

 burrow deep holes in the loose earth, in the labor of which 

 both male and female unite, forming excavations three or four 

 feet in depth. As this labor is very considerable they some- 

 times content themselves with the deserted burrow of the 

 rabbit, and probably at times dislodge the owners for this 

 coveted convenience. They lay a single whitish colored 

 egg on the bare mould of their den. The young are hatch- 

 ed by the beginning of July, and are attentively fed by the 

 assiduous parents who are now seen busily engaged fishing 

 for them, and bringing their prey in the bill, until they are 

 so far grown as to feed and defend themselves. About the 

 close of August they all go off in a body to a single bird, 

 and indeed, so completely, that they desert the young ones 

 which are hatched late, leaving them a prey to the Falcon, 

 and other rapacious birds who watch for them at the mouths' 

 of their holes. Yet notwithstanding this apparent neglect of 



