242 



Bird - Lore 



PUFFIN WITH FOOD 



camera shutter. Sometimes, in their flight, their wiiigs would scrape the top 

 of my blind. They flew very swiftly, feet dropping down a little behind, and 

 body perfectly straight, head turning this way and the other, to watch the 

 strange object. I think my shelter was over a nest or two, for one bird came 

 many times with small shining herrings in his bill, resting for a moment near 



me; then would fly 



^ . in a wide circle over 



I the water, only to 



return to the same 

 spot. After repeti- 

 tions of this, it 

 finally disappeared, 

 crawling, body held 

 stiffly close to the 

 rock, just behind 

 the big boulder on 

 which I rested, — 

 reappearing in about 

 a minute without 

 the fish, and flying 

 seaward. When 



resting, they frequently squat, with feet and body flat to the rock; but the 

 usual position is upright, with the tail well up and head erect. In starting to 

 fly down to the sea, the head is held down and the body and wings seem arched. 

 The flight ordinarily is more after the manner of a duck. 



Most of their food seems to be obtained within a short space of the nesting- 

 place, as I could note none of the birds flying out any great distance; nor did 

 I see any in approaching until within a half-mile or so of the land. They are 

 wonderful swdmmers and divers, and, unlike some water-birds, equally at home 

 in air or water. 



They are very regular in the dates of their arrival, each year appearing off 

 the islands about May 17, where they keep to the w^ater for four or five days, 

 then come ashore and take up their habitation among the rocks. The young 

 are reared, and about October i the entire colony departs for the South. 



Having obtained what pictures I desired of the birds, I was eager to secure, 

 if possible, some of the eggs and young. The nests are built of grasses and 

 small sticks, and placed down in the deepest crevices and holes — as an almost 

 invariable rule, under much the largest boulders to be found, — making it not 

 only difficult to find, but, as well to get a photograph, even should I succeed in 

 locating one. After searching nearly an hour, I had about concluded it w^ould 

 be impossible to find one, when, by merest chance, I undertook to lift a large 

 sheet of heavy, rusted boiler iron that had in some way been left in the vicinity. 

 It was partially covered with small rocks, and some five or six feet in diameter, 



