370 MORMON ARCTICUS. 



Puffin, Mormon arcticus (Buikir or Boujer), which breeds in 

 the crevices of the rocks, as avcII as in artificial burrows in 

 almost every situation, sometimes at a considerable distance 

 from the water's edge. This bird is taken by the fowlers in 

 two ways : when on its nest, by introducing the hand and 

 dragging out the bird, at the risk of a severe bite ; and when 

 sitting on the rocks, by means of a noose of horse-hair 

 attached to a slender rod, generally formed of bamboo-cane 

 (procured probably from some wreck). The latter mode of 

 fowling is most successful in wet weather, as the Puffins 

 then sit best upon the rocks, allowing a person to approach 

 within a few yards ; and as many as three hundred may be 

 taken in the course of the day by an expert bird-catcher. 



" Of all the St. Kilda birds, the Puffin probably affords 

 the greatest amusement to the sportsman, as well from the 

 rapidity of its flight as its habit of congregating in dense 

 masses when sitting upon the rocks. As many as a dozen 

 may often be secured at a single shot ; and I have more than 

 once seen a small shelf, about the size of a table, which was 

 swept bare at a single discharge, the birds falling into the 

 sea below. The smoke had scarcely cleared away, when the 

 scene of slaughter was as thickly crowded as ever, and many 

 more might have been easily procured. The food of the 

 Puffin during my visit I believe to have been chiefly the fry 

 of the coal-fish, Gadus carbonarius, from having repeatedly 

 shot the birds flying to their nests with this fish in their 

 bills ; and I thus found that both males and females supply 

 the young with food. 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." 



Dr. Edmondston, in his Notes, says it is " very numerous 

 in Shetland, breeds in holes in the green or disintegrating 

 precipices, and lays one egg. The young are full-grown 

 before they qxiit the nest." Extending in summer to Feroe, 

 Iceland, various parts of Scandinavia, and even Nova 

 Zembla, it is found in winter on the coasts of France and 

 Spain, although the limit of its southward migration is not 

 known. On the eastern side of America it extends from 

 Georgia to Labrador. Mr. Audubon gives an excellent 



