96 BULLETIX 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Massachusetts, leave sometime in March. They arrive on their breed- 

 ing grounds in the British Isles from the last of March to early May 

 somewhat earlier than they do in North America. 



Fall migration. — Migration along the New England coast takes 

 place in October (Massachusetts, October 16). A bird has been 

 recorded from the Ottawa River in October, and a specimen was 

 taken at Davis Inlet, Labrador, as late as October 4. 



Egg dates. — Gulf of St. Lawrence : 34 records, June 6 to July 10 ; 

 17 records, June 15 to 26. Great Britain : 9 records, May 27 to June 

 30 ; 5 records, June 4 to 8. Iceland : 8 records. May 22 to July 16 ; 4 

 records, June 11 to 24. Newfoundland and eastern Labrador: 5 

 records, June 8 to July 7 ; 3 records, July 1 to 3. Maine : 3 records, 

 June 19 and July 27. 



FRATERCULA ARCTICA NAUMANNI Norton. 



LARGE-BILLED PUFFIN. 



HABITS. 



The puffin of the coasts and islands of the Arctic Ocean from 

 Greenland to Nova Zembla has been separated from the common 

 Atlantic Puffin as a large subspecies. The difference in size had long 

 been known and was recognized in nomenclature by Naumann under 

 the specific name Mormon glacialis of Leach. 



Mr. W. Elmer Ekblaw writes to me in regard to this puffin : 



According to the Eskimo, tlie puffin is constantly increasing in numbers on 

 the nortliwest coast of Greenland, the increase having become most marked 

 within the last 10 years. The older Eskimo state that to see the puffin was 

 formerly a rare occuri-ence, and that some years the people living near the 

 usual nesting sites of this bird saw none throughout the season, whereas now 

 they never fail to observe it rather commonly. 



The puffin occurs nowhere very abundantly in comparison with the murres 

 and dovekies, but at some places it is rather common. According to the 

 Eskimo it nests toward the west end of the Crimson Cliffs, at Cape Parker 

 Snow and Cape Dudley Digges, at Cape Alexander on Saunders Island, on 

 Northumberland Island, and on Hakluyt Island, the greatest number being 

 found toward the west end of the Crimson Cliffs, and on Hakluyt Island. 



Nesting. — Its nesting sites are the cliffs and steeper slopes of the outermost 

 capes and the islands along the outer coast. It nests in flocks, nearly always 

 in the same locality as the murres. The nest is placed in burrows in grass, in 

 moss-covered talus slopes, or in turfy places on the cliffs. The eggs are found 

 in .June or early July. 



Eggs. — Very few eggs have found their way into collections; what 

 eggs are available seem to be exactly like those of the common puf- 

 fin, but average slightly longer. The measurements of 7 eggs, in 

 various collections, average 63.8 by 43.8 millimeters; the eggs show- 

 ing the four extremes measure 67 by 45, 66 by 46, 59 by 42.5, and 

 62 by 42 millimeters. 



