599 

 THE MANX SHEARWATER. 



PUFFINUS ANGLOEUM. 



Bill an inch and a half long ; tail rounded ; upper plumage brownish black, 

 lustrous ; under white ; sides of the neck barred with grey ; sides spotted 

 with grey. Length fourteen inches. Eggs nearly round ; pure white. 



That a bird whose generic name is Pyffinus should some- 

 times be called a " Puffin " is not surprising ; and the 

 reader who meets with the name in books should satisfy 

 himself whether the subject of his study be an Auk or a 

 Shearwater, before he admits as facts any statements about 

 the "Puffin" which may fall in his way. Yarrell, for 

 instance, gives the name of Puffin to the bird already 

 described under the name of Fratercula Arctica, while by 

 Montagu that bird is described under the name of 

 " Coulterneb," "Puffin" being given as a synonym for 

 the Shearwater. 



The Shearwater is so called from its mode of flight, in 

 which it " shears " or skims the water ; and its distinctive 

 name, Manx, it owes to its having been formerly very 

 abundant in the Calf* of Man, a small island lying south 

 of the Isle of Man. 



The Manx Shearwater is, during the greater portion of 

 the year, an ocean-bird, and only ventures on shore during 

 the breeding season. It then repairs to some island, or 

 portion of the coast little frequented by man, and in 

 society with other birds of the same species there takes 

 up its summer quarters. A sandy or light earthy soil, 

 scantily furnished with vegetation, is preferred to any 

 other station. Its nest is a hole in the ground, either the 

 deserted biuTow of a rabbit or a tunnel excavated by itself, 

 or less frequently it lays its one egg in the crevice of a 



* '' Calf," on many parts of the coast, is a name given to the 

 smaller of two rocks in proximity, of which the larger is called 

 the " Cow." 



