i8 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



waverint,^ unreality to all the scene. In this en- 

 chanted realm thousands of queer birds move to 

 and fro, and none is queerer than the Tufted 

 Puffin. 



Each looks like a masked caricature of a bird 

 as it comes on, pushing its great red beak straight 

 ahead, its red, splay feet spread widely, its long, 

 cream-colored side plumes flying in the wind, 

 and its little wings " working for two." In 

 spring both male and female acquire a white 

 face, which gives them a masked appearance, and 

 the great, gaudily colored beak reminds one of 

 Mr. Punch and his big red nose. The beak, a 

 remarkable aiipendage, is much larger and 

 showier in the breeding season than at any other 

 time. There are eighteen horny plates, ingeni- 

 ously formed and arranged, sixteen of which fall 

 off after the breeding season, much reducing the 

 dimensions of the basal part. The underlying 

 plates are then brown in color. At the same 

 time the white of the face with its plumes dis- 

 appears, the entire head becomes blackish, and 

 the bird remains merely a commonplace Puffin 

 until the next breeding season. 



On the Farallons, off the California coast, 

 where these Puffins nest on barren rocks, they 

 deposit their eggs in holes or cavities among the 

 rocks, but on the northern coast, where each 

 rocky islet has a cap of some four feet of earth, 

 they burrow into this at the top of the precipice 

 overlooking the sea. Some of their tunnels ex- 

 tend but a few inches. These are believed to be 

 made by the young birds. Others delve deeply, 

 and in an old colony a bank will be honeycombed 

 in every direction. If one wishes to examine 

 into their housekeeping, under these circum- 

 stances he must fasten a rope to rock or tree, 

 rig a " bo'sun's chair," and let himself over the 

 clifif, excavating with his hands like a dog dig- 

 ging out a woodchuck, the stream of dirt passing 

 down the cliff until it reaches the sea far below. 

 Even then he mav not easily succeed in finding 

 the eggs or young in the interminable labyrinth of 



passages penetrating the earth. Where the tops 

 of islands are hilly, the Puffins dig into the turf, 

 where the land slopes at an angle of about 45°, 

 and often they go in to a depth of three or four 

 feet. 



The single egg, which apjjcars white, is in 

 reality spotted inside the shell structure, as may 

 be seen by holding it up to a very strong light. 

 The young one is a real Puffin, as it is covered 

 with down like a powder putf, but as it sits at the 

 mouth of the burrow it looks, at a distance, like 

 a little rat peeping out of its hole. 



There has been much speculation regarding 

 the utility of the bill of the Puffin, and it has been 

 suggested that it is used to crush moUusks, but 

 this does not seem to be the case, at least during 

 the breeding season, as small fish appear to form 

 its principal food. Ajiparently it does not use 

 its bill, but rather its feet, in digging, though this 

 may be an error, and possibly both are used ; but 

 certainly the beak is an excellent weapon of 

 defense as all who have attempted to dig out 

 Puffins will testify. Nature has put the most 

 powerful weapon of the mother bird where it 

 will have most effect. As she sits facing the 

 entrance to her burrow she can deliver the more 

 effective blows in defense of her nest and young 

 because of the great size and crushing strength of 

 her weapon, backed as it is by her hard head and 

 sturdy neck. 



Puffins breed on islands occupied also by Gulls, 

 (iuillemots, Murres, Cormorants, and other birds. 

 After the breeding season they go to sea where 

 they remain all winter. Their habits and roost- 

 ing places at this season are practically unknown. 



The natives of the coasts and islands of the 

 north Pacific catch Puffins in nets, using their 

 bodies for food and their skins for clothing. The 

 skins are tough and are sewn together with the 

 feathered side in, to make coats or " parkas," as 

 they are called. Thus the Puffins contribute to 

 tlic comfort and welfare of these simple, primi- 

 tive people. Edward Howe Forbush. 



PUFFIN 

 Fratercula arctica arctica {Liinunis) 



A. O. U. Number 13 See Color Plate 3 



Other Names. — Common Puffin ; Puffin Auk ; Labra- 

 dor Auk; Sea Parrot; Pope; Bottle-nose; Tammy 

 Norie ; Coulterner ; Tinker. 



General Description. — Length, 13 inches. Color 

 above, black ; below, white ; bill jwry deep and ridged. 



Description. — Adults in Summer: Crown, grayish- 

 black, separated by a narrow ashy collar from dark 

 color of upper parts ; sides of head with chin and 

 throat, ashy; nearly white between eyes and bill, with 

 a dark dusky patch on side of throat; upper parts, 



