148 BRITISH \SEA“SIRDS, 
straight. At the end, or elsewhere in some cases, 
the slight nest of dry grass and a few feathers is 
formed. Occasionally several pairs occupy one 
burrow, each pair enlarging a portion of it for their 
own requirements into a kind of chamber; whilst 
many of the burrows have several openings, and 
are evidently the work of successive years. In 
this rude nest the hen Puffin lays a single egg, 
dull white, sometimes tinged with blue or gray, 
and obscurely spotted with pale brown and gray. 
Contact with the earth in the burrow and with 
the wet feet of the sitting bird, soon discolours this 
egg, and renders it almost like a ball of peat in 
appearance. When disturbed at their breeding 
places, such Puffins as may chance to be outside 
the holes soon fly off to the sea, and join the hosts 
of birds that swarm in the water near every 
breeding station. Those in the burrows, however, 
remain, allowing themselves to be dragged out 
without making any attempt to escape. Great 
caution and gloves are recommended, for the Puffin 
resents intrusion and bites fiercely, being able to 
inflict a nasty cut with its powerful beak and sharp 
claws. 
I still retain the most vivid impressions on my 
visit to the grand colony of Puffins on Doon, one 
of the St. Kilda group. Every available place 
is honeycombed with their holes; the ground 
cannot afford accommodation for all, and numbers 
of birds have to seek nesting places under the 
