40 Wild Birds and their Haunts 



eggs are laid some way up the burrow, so that our robber 

 friend, the Lesser Black-backed Gull, cannot get at them, 

 but he has his opportunity — and a good meal — when the 

 young comes forth. The Puffin is a quaint fellow, with 

 a grotesque bill, which he is well able to use, as daring 

 folk find out, tor such a nip as he can administer will 

 instantly remind the intruder, who ventures his hand 

 into the burrow, of the bird's presence. 



The Puffin is one of the best known excavators. It 

 is remarkable for the singular form of its bill, which 

 exactly resembles two very short blades of a knife 

 applied one against the other by the edge, so as to form 

 a sort of triangle, but longer than it is broad, and chan- 

 nelled transversely with three or four little furrows near 

 the point. From the position of the feet, also, which are 

 thrown so far back that they stand almost upright, 

 Puffins have more the air of small kangaroos than of 

 birds. They have this character in common with all 

 the true diving ducks. 



Soon after their advent for the purpose of breed- 

 ing, it is noticed that the male, contrary to the usual 

 economy of birds, undertakes the hardest part of the 

 labour of nest-building. He begins by scraping up a hole 

 in the sand not far from the shore, and, after having got 

 to some depth, he throws himself on his back, and, with 

 his powerful bill as a digger, and his broad feet to re- 

 move the rubbish, he excavates a burrow with several 

 windings and turnings from eight to ten feet deep. 



He prefers, when he can find a stone, to dig under it, 

 in order that his retreat may be more securely fortified. 

 Whilst thus employed, the birds are so intent upon their 

 work that they are easily caught by the hand. This bird, 

 like others which burrow in similar localities, is accused 

 of dispossessing the rabbits, and even of killing and 

 devouring their young. Experienced naturalists dis- 

 countenance this belief. 



On the occasion of my visit, I asked a friendly keeper if 

 he would procure me one of these birds from the burrow, 

 and I noticed that he bared his arm and cautiously ran 

 the hand along the surface of the ground, dexterously 



