599 



THE MAI^X SHEAEWATEK. 

 puffInus anglorum. 



wftS;. Length fourteen inches. Eggs nearly round ; pure white. 



That a iDird whose generic name is Pvjinus should some- 

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

 reader who meets with the name in books should satisly 

 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 ot 

 "Coulterneb," ''Puffin" being given afi a synonym for 



the Shearwater. n n- x^. • 



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

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

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

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



of the Isle of Man. 



The Manx Shearwater is, during the greater portion ot 



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 burrow of a rabbit or a tunnel excavated by itselt, 



or less frequently it lays its one egg in the crevice oi 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." 



