692 PUFFIN. 



is frequently driven far inland, and not long ago an individual flew 

 through an open window in Brook Street, London. 



This species is the most abundant of the rock-birds which visit 

 the Faeroes, and there are vast colonies on the coast of Norway — 

 especially north of the Arctic circle, as well as in Iceland. A large 

 race from Spitsbergen has been distinguished by some ornitholo- 

 gists as F. glacialis ; and it is probably this which occurs sparingly 

 in Novaya Zemlya, and more plentifully on the coast of Greenland 

 up to 70" N. lat. Southward, our form breeds on the Atlantic 

 coast of America down to the Bay of Fundy, migrating in winter as 

 far as Massachusetts. Returning to Europe : we find the Puffin 

 nesting on many of the smaller Channel Islands, as well as on the 

 coast of France, especially in Brittany ; I observed numbers off the 

 rocky Berlengas Islands near the mouth of the Tagus, on June 

 8th 1S68; and the bird is not uncommon during winter in the 

 Mediterranean, as far east as Sicily. 



In May a single egg is deposited in the fissure of a cliff, or at 

 some distance down a burrow in the short turf or loose soil ; it is 

 at first of a dull white, freckled or even zoned with pale brown or 

 lilac; but the rough granular shell soon becomes stained: average 

 measurements 2-25 by i-6 in. Incubation lasts a month, and the 

 nestlings — covered at first with black down — remain for about three 

 weeks in their retreat ; being fed with herring-fry and other small 

 fish, which are carried transversely in the bills of their parents — as 

 many as eight at a time. Marine insects and crustaceans are also 

 eaten ; the birds going out to procure food with great regularity, and 

 flying long distances — sometimes fifty miles — to obtain it. When 

 on land they rest on the whole length of the foot and heel, and 

 walk with a w-addling gait: but they fly rapidly, and can swim and 

 dive well. They fight fiercely, holding each other till both are 

 drowned rather than let go. ' Sea-Parrot ' and ' Coulter-neb ' are 

 among the commonest of the English local names ; in Gaelic and 

 Erse, ' Boujir.' 



A detailed description of the adult in summer is rendered un- 

 necessary by the figure ; in autumn the horny frontal sheath of the 

 bill is shed in several pieces, and the bill is consequently much 

 smaller in winter, as well as duller in colour. x^verage length 

 12 in., wing 6 in. ; Spitsbergen examples being larger. The young 

 bird has a smaller and shallower bill ; the sides of the head are 

 deeper grey, and the space in front of the eye is sooty-black ; in 

 some cases the dark face is partially retained when the bird begins 

 to breed, in its third year. Albinisms are not rare. 



