34 BLACK-AND-WHITE BIRDS. 



east side of England restricted to the Flamborough 

 cliffs and the Fame Islands, 



If the squat, rotund form of the Puffin fail to 



enable the observer to identify it, a glance at its bill 



will suffice. The latter is a massive, gaudy structure, 



roughly triangular, continuing the outline of the 



head and chin in a manner suggestive of a Parrot. 



A round - eyed, apparently spectacled creature, it 



stands upright, and watches the observer with a 



ludicrous air of mild surprise. PuflSns breed in 



colonies, occupying burrows, generally excavated by 



themselves in the turfy cap of some rocky headland 



or island. Like the Guillemots and Razorbills, the}^ 



have the habit of lining the clifF-ledges, their dark 



backs turned landwards and their white breasts 



towards the sea. But in any Puffin colony there is 



a constant movement throughout the day of birds 



coming up from the sea on short, violently beating 



wings, their bright-red legs tucked up against 



their white stomachs, and in their bills three or 



four small shining fish held crosswise. As they 



go they emit a low, guttural sound, which may be 



imitated by laughing low in the throat with the 



lips closed. If disturbed in their burrows they 



give vent to a low growl. Like Guillemots and 



Razorbills, Puffins have the habit of sitting in the 



water in large companies at the foot of a cliff, 



and diving for fish, which they pursue under water 



with a fin-like action of their wings. After the 



breeding season they take to the open sea. 



KAZORBILL — 17 inches ; massive black bill like razor- 

 head, crossed by thin white line in centre ; legs and 

 feet blackish-brown. 



