002 THE FEATHERED TRIBES. 



endeavour to retain him ; by which means they are often caug-ht to the number of three 

 or four at a time. 



Puffins breed in great numbers on the rocks of Norway ; and the mode of capturing 

 them is exactly the same as that adopted in the northern parts of Great Britain, excepting 

 that a dog is trained to the sport. The birds sit together in prodigious numbers in deep 

 holes and clefts of the highest rocks, and one of these little dogs, being sent in, seizes 

 the first by the wing. This, to prevent being carried away, lays hold, with-, its strong 

 beak, of the bird next to it, which, in like manner, seizes its neighbour, and the dog 

 continuing to draw them out, an extraordinary string of these birds fUlls into the hands 

 of the fowlers. " They are taken," says Colonel Brooke, to whom we owe the storj', 

 " for their feathers, which are very-valuable." 



Mr. Audubon gives the following admirable account of the habits of this bird : — " There 

 is, on the coast of I;abrador, a small island, known to all the cod-fishers, and celebrated 

 for the nmuber of puffins that anniudly breed there. As we rowed towards it, although 

 we found the water literally covered with thousands of these birds, the number that flew 

 over and around the green island seemed much greater, insomuch that one must have 

 imagined half the j^uffins in the world had assembled there. 



" This far-famed island is of considerable extent ; its shores are guarded by number- 

 less blocks of rocks, and within a few j-ards of it the water is several fathoms in depth. 

 The ground rises in the form of an amphitheatre to the heig'ht of about seventy feet, the 

 greatest length being from north to south, and its southern extremity fronting tho 

 Strait of Bellisle. For every burrow in the island j^reviously visited by us, there 

 seemed to be a hundred here ; on every crag or stone stood a puffin, at the entrance of 

 each hole another, and j^et the sea was covered and the air filled bj' them. I had two 

 double-barrelled guns and two sailors to assist me, and I shot for one hour bj'- my watch, 

 alwaj^s firing at a single bird on the wing. How many puffins I killed in that time I 

 take the libert}' of leaving you to guess. (Naughty John ! Have I not heard j'ou say, 

 ' I hate to see birds shot when breeding ?' to which the very apt reply was made, ' By 

 any person but j'ourself.' See vol. ii. p. 466. But, however — ). The burrows were all 

 inhabited by young birds, of different ages and sizes ; and clouds of puffins flew over our 

 heads, each individual holding a 'lint' bj' the head. 



"This fish, which measures four or five inches in length, and is of a very slender forui, 

 with a beautiful silvery hue, existed in vast shoals in deep water around tho island. Tho 

 speed with \\hich the birds flew made tho fish incline by the side of their neck. ^Yliile 

 flying, the puffins emitted a croaking noise, but they never dropped the fish ; and many 

 of them, 'when brought down by a shot, still held their prey fast. I observed with con- 

 cern the extraordinary att'ection manifested by these birds toM'ards each other ; for, when- 

 ever one fell down or tumbled in the water, its mate or a stranger immediately alighted 

 by its side, swam round it, pushed it with its bill, as if to urge it 1o fly or dive, and 

 seldom would leave it until an oar was raised to knock it on the head, when, at last, 

 aware of the danger, it would plunge below in an instant. Those which fell wounded 

 immediately ran with speed to some hole, and di\ed info it, on which no further effort 

 was made to secure them. Those which liajipened to be caught alive on flie land bit 

 most severely, and scratched with their claws at such a rate that we were glad to let 

 them escape. 



"The burrows here ciimmuuiealed in various \\ays willi tacli otiiei', so (liat (lie wluile 

 island was perforated as if by a raxdtitude of subterraneous labyrinths, over which one 

 could not run without the risk of falling a( every step. The voices of the young souudcd 

 beiiealli our feet like voices iVom the grave, and flu- sfeucli was extreiuely disagreeable, 

 so that as soon as our boats were filled with birds, we were glad to get away. During the 

 whole of our visit the birds never left (he place, l)u( consfautly iitteiidcd fo fheir avoca- 



