ARCTIC PUFFIN. 367 



mine-red ; the membranes at the base of the bill yellow. The 

 bare margin of the eyelids vermilion, their horny appendages 

 greyish-bkie. Feet vermilion ; claws light-brown, dusky at 

 the end. All the upper parts black, tinged with grey, glossed 

 with gi-eenish-blue on the back ; continuous with the black 

 of the hind-neck a broad band of blackish-grey across the 

 neck. The sides of the head from over the eye to the throat, 

 white ; the cheeks tinged with grey ; and the throat with a 

 deeper tint of the same. The lower parts white. 



Length to end of tail 12 inches ; extent of wings 23 ; 

 wing from flexure 6| ; bill along the ridge 1-|4 ; its height at 

 the base 1^ ; gape-Hne 1-j^ ; tarsus 1 ; middle toe l-^, its 

 claw -j^. 



Female. — The female is not distinguishable from the 

 male unless by dissection. The size, hewever, is somewhat 

 less. 



Habits. — The Puffin makes its appearance on our coasts 

 from the middle of April to the beginning of May, presently 

 betaking itself to various breeding stations, scattered here and 

 there from the British Channel to Shetland and the remote 

 Hebrides. " On the stupendous cliffs of Dover," says Mon- 

 tagu, " and such other places, they burrow like rabbits, if the 

 soil is light, but more frequently take possession of rabbit-bur- 

 rows, and lay their eggs many feet under ground. This is the 

 case in Priestholm Isle, off the coast of Anglesea, and other 

 small islands off St. David's, where the soil is sandy." They 

 also fi-equent the Scilly Islands, Cornwall, the Isle of Wight, 

 some parts of Yorkshire, the Fern Islands, and in Scotland so 

 many places that it is unnecessary to specify them. The 

 Bass Rock, Dunbye, near Slains Castle, on the coast of Aber- 

 deenshire, and Berneray of Barray, the southern extremity 

 of the Outer Hebrides, are the breeding-places at which I 

 have particularly attended to their habits, which are very 

 similar to those of the Razor-bill. 



They sit lightly on the Avater, swim with celerity, turn 

 and move about with smartness, dive headlong and fly under 

 the water in pursuit of small fishes and Crustacea, or betake 



