498 ALCIDAS 
water ;! and in densely-packed colonies they seem to fiil the 
air like a swarm of gigantic flies. On sea they are much 
less noticeable than on land, but even when flying the 
massive head and remarkably deep beak are distinguishable. 
Food.—F ood is procured by diving, at which the Puffin 
is expert. It uses both wings and legs to propel itself under 
water, and can turn adroitly in pursuit of ‘fry’ at no great 
depth from the surface. When catering for their young, 
the parent-birds capture several fish in rapid succession, 
and as many as half-a-dozen may be seen dangling from 
the sides of their beaks when they arrive on the slopes of 
the cliff. Small crabs are also eaten by the adult birds. 
Fie. 59.—PUFFIN 
Nest.—About the middle of March the birds begin to 
assemble on the cliffs of both island and mainland. The 
numbers increase for a couple of weeks or more, until 
colonies, in some places composed of countless throngs, 
have assembled. Breeding as they do in burrows, generally 
those appropriated from rabbits, these birds require earthy 
soil, so that on barren, precipitous headlands teeming with 
Guillemots and Kittiwakes, they are often scarce. But 
should the summits of the cliffs be capped with patches of 
soft earth, then Puffins may be seen ascending to their lofty 
though subterranean homes. 
' At the appearance of the Falcon thousands leave the cliffs and dart 
downwards to the sea with amazing speed. 
